Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether a qualified witness independent of the relevant clinical commissioning group is required to be involved in a patient's continuing healthcare assessment.

The National Framework for Continuing Healthcare requires that a multidisciplinary team (MDT) must assess whether an individual has a primary health need. This MDT must comprise at least two professionals who are from different healthcare professions, or one professional who is from a healthcare profession and one person who is responsible for assessing persons who may have needs for care and support under part 1 of the Care Act 2014.

The MDT should usually include both health and social care professionals and, as far as is reasonably practicable, the clinical commissioning group (CCG) must consult with the relevant local authority before making any decision about an individual’s eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare. A local authority must, when requested to do so by a CCG, co-operate with the CCG in arranging for persons to participate in a MDT. In addition to this, the individual and, where appropriate, their representative should be enabled to play a central role in the assessment process.