CHC Funding?

[Feeling unsupported]

I'm wondering if anyone can enlighten me a little regarding CHC funding and if this might be worth looking into? My mum is receiving nursing care in a home and is self funding. She has very late stage Alzheimer's, basically bed ridden, non-verbal, incontinent, cannot feed herself and digests only the tiniest amount, she has continuing, fairly severe pressure sores. Might there be some help to fund the £5000 per month she is having to finance?

Any advice most gratefully received.

 

[Dirge]

If you put CHC into the search bar on this site you will find several conversations about the funding and also the appeals process. It's a minefield for dementia sufferers. May also be worth googling NHS National Framework as this is the policy document that the Care Boards are meant to work from, this will give you the background into the domain scoring etc.

 

[Kevinl]

Continuing Health Care (CHC) is essentially the NHS keeping someone out of their hospitals by paying the private sector to do nursing car.
Is the home she's in called a care home or a nursing home, there is a difference, and as has been said read around, there are some key words and phrases which tick their boxes in a positive (for you/her) way. K

 

[Louise7]

Hello @Feeling unsupported, as has been mentioned it can be very difficult - but not impossible - to get CHC funding and it's worth taking a look at the existing threads (see links below) which although quite lengthy contain lots of good advice and information. If you decide to apply, a checklist would need to be completed first, followed by a full DST assessment if the checklist is 'positive'. If a full assessment takes place then it's a good idea to gather supporting evidence such as medical records and care home notes to help evidence your mum's level of care needs. Does she already receive Funded Nursing Care (FNC)? It might be an idea to have a chat with the nurses who are providing care to your mum to ask their views about her current level of nursing needs. Hope this helps.

CHC (Continuing Healthcare) support thread

I’m waiting to hear about my husbands review of his CHC, I’m so confused by the whole process and to be honest a little worried. He has def declined since going into his NH but some things are the same. I want to be there but the manager has said it’ll probably over the phone with her. Thank you...

forum.alzheimers.org.uk

Your CHC Appeals support thread

Welcome to Dementia Support Forum’s new support thread for NHS Continuing Health Care. We are the Continuing Healthcare appeals team at Alzheimer’s Society. We are a team of 2 service coordinators supported by a group of highly knowledgeable and experienced volunteers who come with both a...

forum.alzheimers.org.uk

 

[Alberta23]

Hi, goodness this is really tough for you. I would ring CareRightsUk and chat to their lovely advisors on their helpline. They have loads of really good advice. It's often good to talk to a person to run through numerous options. They are a free service.
CHC can be very difficult to access, and because of that there are also companies who actually deal with/advise on funding streams for you. Fight your corner. But they do charge so be careful.
However, I did hear of someone recently who accessed the funding extremely quickly. So its worth getting the ball rolling now rather than later. If you dont get it, at least you tried, if you can get it, you need to get the assessments started. You dont want to find out in 6months that you could have got it, but you never applied for it. Your mums condition can only get harder for her. Its a huge amount of money to have to be finding each month.
But i would start with CareRightsUk. If you go on their site you will find a helpline link. From that you can actually book a time slot for a phone call and either Trevor or Emma will call you back. They have a great set up. I only found out about them after my mum died. Which was too late. But even then they have helped me in other ways.
Fingers crossed you get some better help. Its hard enough coping with really difficult situations and worries around relatives. Worse still when you have all the worry of finances. We need an insurance system over here that funds elderly care without all this stress. Be kind to yourself. Your mum is so lucky having you there for her.

 

[LongDistanceCarer10]

It can be a complex issue and even when granted it may not be permanent. My very frail aunt with dementia has finally been granted CHC funding but the push came from the care home who completed the assessment tool and obviously they can give all the details of the care she needs, which as a relative I'm somewhat shielded from. When I visit she's clean, dressed and fed but behind the scenes I know there's a lot of work to achieve that, to encourage her to eat, to maintain her skin integrity and to stop her falling over. I think her frailty is now as much of an issue than her dementia. She's been in care for 4 years, the last year in a nursing home. Am currently breathing a long big sigh of relief.

 

[helpingpeggy]

Fast track CHC funding may be given if your mum is within the last 6 months of life. Definitely apply

 

[Feeling unsupported]

Thank you all for your helpful replies. I'm not sure if I have enough energy left for yet another battle. I will see if I can speak to the home manager when I visit tomorrow to see what their thoughts are. As to whether she 'is within the last 6 months of her life' @helpingpeggy, I have not the faintest idea, I was told at most she probably had 3 or 4 months, but that was 2 long years ago now.

 

[Alberta23]

Thinking of you. Take some time out to recharge. We are all human and energy levels get destroyed. Be kind to yourself.

 

[luggy]

I'm wondering if anyone can enlighten me a little regarding CHC funding and if this might be worth looking into? My mum is receiving nursing care in a home and is self funding. She has very late stage Alzheimer's, basically bed ridden, non-verbal, incontinent, cannot feed herself and digests only the tiniest amount, she has continuing, fairly severe pressure sores. Might there be some help to fund the £5000 per month she is having to finance?

Any advice most gratefully received.

Hello @Feeling unsupported based on what you have written, I would say that you have a case for CHC, possibly even Fast Track funding (which is the same as CHC, but it is usually processed within 48 hours for those who are nearing the end). Your local Integrated Care Board (ICB) are responsible for arranging and carrying out the assessments. Depending on how amenable your care home is to CHC funded residents, you might want to liaise with them, or you could contact your local ICB yourself and ask them to do a Checklist to see if your mum is eligible for a full assessment. If your mum is in a nursing home, she should at the very least be receiving Funded Nursing Care.

 

[Gladys1946]

My daughter and I have just visited my husband in his Care Home. The Manager met us to tell me they were going to apply for CHC funding and wanted to know if I was happy with that. My husband is deteriorating at a fast rate, has difficulty eating (If at all), doubly incontinent, very frail in walking and needs two assistants at all times. He has absolutely no cognition. Just stares at me blankly. They tell me they are also considering moving him to the Nursing Unit of the Home. I realise it's a lottery as to who gets CHC and who doesn't. I'm so lucky in that he's in a wonderful home that do all they can to make residents comfortable. How long does the process take? I may not be involved as the Home staff, GP and District Nurse are going to start the ball rolling. What a horrible disease this is.

 

[Rayreadynow]

Before you can start to receive FNC payments, you must first be assessed to determine whether you are eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare.

 

[luggy]

My daughter and I have just visited my husband in his Care Home. The Manager met us to tell me they were going to apply for CHC funding and wanted to know if I was happy with that. My husband is deteriorating at a fast rate, has difficulty eating (If at all), doubly incontinent, very frail in walking and needs two assistants at all times. He has absolutely no cognition. Just stares at me blankly. They tell me they are also considering moving him to the Nursing Unit of the Home. I realise it's a lottery as to who gets CHC and who doesn't. I'm so lucky in that he's in a wonderful home that do all they can to make residents comfortable. How long does the process take? I may not be involved as the Home staff, GP and District Nurse are going to start the ball rolling. What a horrible disease this is.

Hello @Gladys1946 I'm sorry to hear of your husband's deterioration. From your explanation, it sounds as if the manager is considering Fast Track funding. This is the same as CHC, but is arrived at by a different route so that the funding can be set in place quickly - it's supposed to be 48 hours. The recommendation is made by a qualified clinician, so a GP or District Nurse as you have mentioned, which is submitted to the Integrated Care Board (ICB) Fast Track Team, who are obliged to accept it and set the funding/care package in place without delay.

The other route in obtaining CHC is via a Checklist which may generate a full assessment conducted by a nurse assessor who is employed by the ICB to determine whether or not someone is eligible for CHC funding. As you say, this method is very much a lottery and very few people are found to be eligible.

I hope this helps.

 

[Gladys1946]

Hello @Gladys1946 I'm sorry to hear of your husband's deterioration. From your explanation, it sounds as if the manager is considering Fast Track funding. This is the same as CHC, but is arrived at by a different route so that the funding can be set in place quickly - it's supposed to be 48 hours. The recommendation is made by a qualified clinician, so a GP or District Nurse as you have mentioned, which is submitted to the Integrated Care Board (ICB) Fast Track Team, who are obliged to accept it and set the funding/care package in place without delay.

The other route in obtaining CHC is via a Checklist which may generate a full assessment conducted by a nurse assessor who is employed by the ICB to determine whether or not someone is eligible for CHC funding. As you say, this method is very much a lottery and very few people are found to be eligible.

I hope this helps.

Thank you so much. I'm just glad the Manager has started the process rather than me suggesting it. I'm not self funding and over the last 19 months the payments to the local Council have been crippling me so if I could get help, it would be wonderful, although bitter sweet.

 

[Gladys1946]

Been to see my husband today and he's now rallied and wouldn't meet the criteria for CHC. This tortuous disease is just beyond cruel. The Manager told me he really thought that the end was near and so did I. My husband obviously had other ideas and was better today than he's been for a while. Meanwhile I'm gradually getting beyond it.

 

[helpingpeggy]

Been to see my husband today and he's now rallied and wouldn't meet the criteria for CHC. This tortuous disease is just beyond cruel. The Manager told me he really thought that the end was near and so did I. My husband obviously had other ideas and was better today than he's been for a while. Meanwhile I'm gradually getting beyond it.

Gladys, he may not meet the requirements for fast track CHC but can still apply for a “standard” CHC assessment