Any advice re Continuing Healthcare?

[Ann1923]

Hi. My dad has vascular dementia stage 6 and has recently gone into full time care. He's self funding and I'm looking into Continuing Healthcare but nit sure whether to proceed.
He has no capacity, wanders all over the county and gets lost, can't use a phone any more, doesn't eat when he was living alone and is not able to easily express what he wants to say . But outwardly he presents well and is in residential rather than nursing care currently.
The company I'm talking to says he has a case. Does anyone else have any experience they could share please?

 

[Louise7]

Hello @Ann1923 Continuing Healthcare is very difficult to obtain, but not impossible, and the process isn't the easiest. Unless there are some high level needs relating to behaviour and/or health issues other than dementia it can be very difficult. The things that you have mentioned are essentially social care needs rather than medical/nursing needs, and as your dad does not require nursing care at the moment I personally would be wary of any company who advised that he has a case. There have been quite a lot of posts here on the forum about Continuing Healthcare, including from members who did manage to get it, so I'd suggest having a good read through these threads in the financial forum. They are quite lengthy but very helpful:

https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/threads/chc-continuing-healthcare-support-thread.86059/

https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/threads/your-chc-appeals-support-thread.136861/

 

[Jessbow]

How much do the company charge?
My m in law ( no dementia) has just been fast tracked- end of life, completely bed bound, bowel issue ( liquid poops 6 times a day) dreadful skin issues around that.
Has a twisted bowel and a stomach volulus. cathetrised .
puree diet, which has to be supervised to eat- can feed herself.

We did get it, because her backside skin is a real issue, along with her frailty ( aged 94, weight 5 1/5 stone)
initially deemed 'borderline elligable'- but we questioned how much more poorly could she be? and were awarded it - for 3 months. she wont recover, shes not going to get better but....... doubt she'll be here next week, never mind 3 months

to be brutally honest, i dont think you stand a chance!

 

[Dave63]

Hi @Ann1923, the CHC process is, as @Louise7 pointed out, not the easiest thing in the world to navigate. The first thing you should do if you believe your dad may be eligible for CHC funding is to begin with the CHC Checklist and this can be completed by anyone involved in your dads social or health care.

Initially I would recommend going through the Checklist yourself and see how you would score your dads needs for each domain. If after doing that it's apparent your dad may be eligible for a full assessment I would then ask anyone involved with your dads social or healthcare needs to complete the checklist and submit it for a full assessment. Irrespective of who completes it make sure you are involved so your dad has a someone to represent his views.

The checklist can be found here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/630399dae90e0729db4b59f9/NHS-Continuing-Healthcare-Checklist-guidance-2022.pdf

 

[Dave63]

to be brutally honest, i dont think you stand a chance!

The only way of determining the possibility of eligibility is by completing the checklist assessment. The nature, complexity and intensity of a persons needs may only become apparent once all the domains have been considered and how they interact as a whole.

 

[Ann1923]

Hello @Ann1923 Continuing Healthcare is very difficult to obtain, but not impossible, and the process isn't the easiest. Unless there are some high level needs relating to behaviour and/or health issues other than dementia it can be very difficult. The things that you have mentioned are essentially social care needs rather than medical/nursing needs, and as your dad does not require nursing care at the moment I personally would be wary of any company who advised that he has a case. There have been quite a lot of posts here on the forum about Continuing Healthcare, including from members who did manage to get it, so I'd suggest having a good read through these threads in the financial forum. They are quite lengthy but very helpful:

https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/threads/chc-continuing-healthcare-support-thread.86059/

https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/threads/your-chc-appeals-support-thread.136861/

Thank you that's really helpful and I'll def have a look. I have to say from what I have read I don't think we have a hope!

 

[Ann1923]

How much do the company charge?
My m in law ( no dementia) has just been fast tracked- end of life, completely bed bound, bowel issue ( liquid poops 6 times a day) dreadful skin issues around that.
Has a twisted bowel and a stomach volulus. cathetrised .
puree diet, which has to be supervised to eat- can feed herself.

We did get it, because her backside skin is a real issue, along with her frailty ( aged 94, weight 5 1/5 stone)
initially deemed 'borderline elligable'- but we questioned how much more poorly could she be? and were awarded it - for 3 months. she wont recover, shes not going to get better but....... doubt she'll be here next week, never mind 3 months

to be brutally honest, i dont think you stand a chance!

I'm so sorry to hear about your MIL and thank you for replying. Difficult to comprehend how she can be borderline eligible and I would say we don't have a case based on that. Wishing you well

 

[Ann1923]

Hi @Ann1923, the CHC process is, as @Louise7 pointed out, not the easiest thing in the world to navigate. The first thing you should do if you believe your dad may be eligible for CHC funding is to begin with the CHC Checklist and this can be completed by anyone involved in your dads social or health care.

Initially I would recommend going through the Checklist yourself and see how you would score your dads needs for each domain. If after doing that it's apparent your dad may be eligible for a full assessment I would then ask anyone involved with your dads social or healthcare needs to complete the checklist and submit it for a full assessment. Irrespective of who completes it make sure you are involved so your dad has a someone to represent his views.

The checklist can be found here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/630399dae90e0729db4b59f9/NHS-Continuing-Healthcare-Checklist-guidance-2022.pdf

Thank you 👍

 

[nitram]

@Ann1923 1923

Remember that the checklist is only an initial screening tool

3. The checklist threshold at this stage of the process has intentionally been set low, in order to ensure that all those who require a full assessment of eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare have this opportunity.

Practitioners should advise those for whom the checklist is completed that a positive checklist does not automatically lead to eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare and only indicates that the individual requires a full assessment for NHS continuing healthcare.

NHS continuing healthcare checklist guidance

www.gov.uk

Reading through the whole of the guidance may also be useful.