If a person’s needs are health-related then their support should be provided by the NHS, not social services. There is a difference between having a health need and having a disability/illness that impacts on social needs such as washing, dressing etc…

During their assessment, if a social worker identifies someone who has a health need, they will usually then arrange for a screening assessment to be performed if they believe a service user might be eligible for Continuing Care funding, which is funding provided by the NHS for the nursing part of their care needs.

For example, if a person suffering dementia will try to swallow objects that they grab and have the potential to be violent then they would probably qualify for CHC as their care requirements involve much more than simply meeting their social needs. However, if their dementia then progresses and they become bedbound and withdrawn then their needs consist mainly of being kept clean, safe and nourished; therefore, their care now would fall within the parameters of social care. Their condition may have worsened from a medical point of view but their care needs have lessened in their complexity and unpredictability so the responsibility of meeting them would change from NHS to Social Services.

People being discharged from hospital often have the screening performed as part of their discharge planning. If so it is performed by the multi-disciplinary team who attend hospital discharge meetings.

The next stage is for a team of experts such as  a Social Worker, Specialist Nurse Assessor and a nurse/care worker), to use a Decision Support Tool (DST) to determine the level of health needs a person has.  If a person “scores” as having high level needs this could be an indicator that they qualify for Continuing Care Funding; however, if it can be argued that their needs are complex and unpredictable this also could make them eligible.

How do I Request a Continuing Care Assessment?

If you would like to apply for continuing healthcare funding or have an enquiry, please contact the Continuing Healthcare Team at NHS Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG):

Continuing Healthcare Team
Enfield CCG
Holbrook House
Cockfosters Road
Barnet, Herts
EN4 0DR
Tel: 020 3688 2174
Email: chc.enfield@nhs.net