Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that Continuing Health Care services remain uninterrupted for patients when the services are being transitioned from Integrated Care Boards.

The Department is responsible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) policy and legislation. We have provided statutory guidance, setting out clear processes for CHC, which all integrated care boards (ICBs) must follow. CHC is funded by ICBs, and it is for individual ICBs to make assessments and decisions in a consistent manner, in line with their statutory duties and guidance. This guidance has not changed and ICBs are expected to maintain CHC delivery in line with their statutory duties.

While the Model ICB Blueprint highlighted CHC as one of the functions that are subject to “review for transfer” to “test and explore options to streamline and transfer some activities out of ICBs”, a decision has not been made on this function being transferred out of ICBs. If the function were transferred out, it would require legislative change. The sender and receiver organisations would be responsible for safe transfer, enabling continuity of services and managing risk during any transition.