Continuing healthcare fast-track funding is an entirely separate form of funding provided for continuing healthcare. We have looked at the details below.
NHS continuing healthcare funding is a means of NHS funding provided to meet the cost of an individual’s care in full where it is established that their need for care is primarily due to health reasons. There is a two-stage assessment process that needs to be undertaken to determine, evidentially, whether they meet the criteria with factors such as 12 health domains considered and scored against an assessment process.
The assessment must be completed by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians to include a social care representative, who will then consider whether there is sufficient complexity, intensity, unpredictability or nature of needs to warrant the conclusion that the needs are primarily health needs. If this is the case, the individual will be provided NHS continuing healthcare funding to meet their care costs in full. It should be highlighted that this is not a means-tested form of funding and whether an individual has assets exceeding the £23,250 means testing limit for social care is utterly irrelevant.
Continuing healthcare fast-track funding is an entirely separate form of funding provided for continuing healthcare.
The only requirement for eligibility for fast-track funding is;
- That the individual has a rapidly deteriorating condition that
- May be entering a terminal phase.
Again, this is the only requirement, and it is not necessary to go through the full two stage assessment process.
Any clinician can complete a fast track assessment on behalf of the patient and submit the same to the Clinical Commissioning Group.
There are a number of inaccuracies reported to individuals regarding fast-track funding. By way of an example, it is not the case that the individual has to have a deemed life expectancy of any particular period. We are often informed that people have been told a patient is not eligible for fast-track funding due to the fact that they have a life expectancy greater than four weeks. The only requirement is that an individual’s rapidly deteriorating condition MAY be entering a terminal phase. Clearly, no requirement on a particular time frame of days, weeks or months has been imposed, and as such, it is incorrect for any such requirement to be stated at any time.
It should also be noted that if an individual’s health stabilises and their condition is no longer ‘rapidly deteriorating’ and/or is no longer considered to potentially be entering a terminal phase, it would be entirely appropriate at that point for the individual to be assessed for full continuing healthcare funding to determine whether they still meet the criteria to be provided NHS continuing healthcare funding.
Fast track funding is intended as a swift form of funding to be put into place where an individual’s health is rapidly deteriorating to ensure that they are not left in a funding position that requires care fees to be met where it MAY be the case that they are in a palliative, end of life stage.
Should you have any questions or queries regarding continuing healthcare funding generally or continuing healthcare fast-track funding specifically, you should not hesitate to contact a member of the Compass CHC team for a free, no obligation, and confidential discussion. You can fill in the form on our Contact Page, or call us directly on 0800 008 7777.
Author: Tim Davies LLB
