Will the “abolition” of NHS England affect my Continuing Healthcare funding claim?

Written by Kirsty John, Chartered Legal Executive in our Nursing care team.

UK Prime Minister, Kier Starmer announced that NHS England will be abolished to bring management of the NHS back to “the heart of Government”.

The desired impact of this is to improve services across the NHS, to reduce costs associated with NHS management and to speed up improvements in the health service overall. This will have a bearing on all matters which are currently managed by NHS England, including the management of claims for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding.

NHS England are, at present, responsible for the management of the various Integrated Care Board’s (ICB’s) ensuring that their local systems operate effectively and hold the ICB’s to account to ensure that they appropriately discharge their functions. NHS England are also responsible for the management of Independent Review Panel’s, which are the final stage in the appeals process for claims for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding.

A restructure of this type will likely have a bearing on the management of claims for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding in the coming years, given that there will be requirement for transfer of duties. However, at this time there is a lack of clarity as to how the management changes will affect NHS Continuing Healthcare cases.

However, regardless of whether NHS Continuing Healthcare funding is managed by NHS England, or the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS Continuing Healthcare is a package of funding which is enshrined in law. Irrespective of the restructuring there will remain a duty to ensure that individuals are adequately and appropriately assessed for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding, and that any appeals are progressed in line with the National Framework.

Ultimately, at present there is a lack of detail available in terms of the practicalities of abolishment of NHS England and the impact on Continuing Healthcare funding. Until further details are released, it will be difficult to assess the full impact of the proposed restructure and there is unlikely to be an immediate significant impact on how cases are handled. We also understand that the plans to abolish NHS England are expected to take up to two years to fully implement so we expect things will largely remain unchanged for the time being, regardless of the stage of the process that a case has reached. Families who are, for example, at the stage where their case is due to be considered by an Independent Review Panel, are unlikely to be significantly affected by the proposed changes in the short term and any panel hearings which have already been scheduled will likely proceed as planned.

However, as more information regarding the restructure is released, and clarification is provided as to the practicalities of the day-to-day management of NHS Continuing Healthcare by the Government, we will provide further analysis.