Please don't talk of a pre-assessment stage, without saying Checklist and/or full assessment. Even the Checklist is an assessment of a kind. Sometimes there is no Checklist assessment; sometimes there is. Sometimes there is no MDT assessment either.
1. The first stage of the 'average' CHC process is for someone to make an application/request for CHC to be considered to be appropriate bearing in mind that they know the health of their relative best of all.
Perhaps, we could call it 'ask for CHC to be considered'. If someone is in hospital, and likely to be despatched to a care home, that 'consideration' should happen before social services are involved (if they are to be involved at all), and before discharge. (There are circumstances where a full pre-discharge assessment may not be appropriate, and it could be deemed that assessment after discharge might be more appropriate, for a whole variety of different reasons.)
Everyone has the right to ask for CHC to be considered, at any time, any place.
2. You could either put your request to the 'chief' nurse in hospital, or direct to the PCT Continuing Healthcare Lead Coordinator. In fact, you can ask the PCT to 'consider' your request for CHC at any point, no matter where your relative is. You can do that yourself.
3. The first stage of the whole 'consideration' process may be via the
Checklist. (Unless it would be more appropriate for the
Fast-Track Pathway to be considered.)
4. The Checklist is there to decide whether someone should continue to a full assessment, via a
Multi-Disciplinary Team assessment. If the Checklist-person says that you aren't eligible for a full assessment, you should ask the PCT (not the person who completed the Checklist, but the PCT) to reconsider that decision.
5. After Checklist has been gone through (if appropriate), the next stage is for a full assessment via the MDT, which results in the
Decision Support Tool (DST) being completed. NB. The DST is created at the end of the full assessment, and is more-or-less a gathering together of all the evidence. But in itself it's not an assessment.
6. If the PCT decides that there will be a Panel involved, the relative/family/applicant can be present at the full discussion, and may also be present during the 'decision-making process' when the recommendation is made.
The relative/family/applicant must be involved at each and every stage, and must ask for a copy of the paperwork involved, as the application progresses along its path. Otherwise, s/he will have no way of understanding decisions that have been made.
I've tried to use simple and easy words, so as to make it easy to understand.
