The NHS checklist for Continuing Healthcare (CHC) was created as a screening tool to help healthcare practitioners identify individuals who may be referred to a full assessment, in order to receive the funding they need.
The NHS CHC checklist is, therefore, the first step in establishing whether a person is entitled to free care arranged and paid for entirely by the NHS.
Understanding the NHS continuing healthcare checklist
As we just discussed, the Continuing Healthcare Checklist (NHS) is used to assess an individual’s care needs and determine if they can be provided funding through CHC.
At this point, it’s important to be familiar with the 12 domains or areas which are assessed under the checklist:
- Altered state of consciousness
- Behaviour
- Breathing
- Cognition
- Communication
- Continence
- Drug therapies & medication
- Mobility
- Nutrition
- Psychological & emotional needs
- Skin
- Other significant care needs for consideration
Through this CHC funding checklist, a letter is assigned to each domain, which indicates the level of care needs. So:
- ‘A’ means a high or above care need level
- ‘B’ means a moderate care need level
- ‘C’ means a low or ‘no needs’ care needs level
Checklist for CHC funding – A closer look
The checklist is a screening tool used to determine if a more detailed assessment of eligibility for free NHS care is needed. There can only be two outcomes to the checklist:
Negative – This means that the individual does not need to go through the full assessment as they did not qualify for CHC.
Positive – This means that the individual needs to go through the full assessment. However, at this stage, it does not automatically mean that the individual has qualified for CHC as there are additional steps to go through.
Once the initial screening is complete using the checklist for CHC funding, eligible individuals are put through a second stage by way of a DST assessment. This helps to establish whether the said individual will receive fully fundedcare through CHC funding. Let’s take a closer look at the 12 domains against which each candidate is evaluated:
Altered state of consciousness – Your GP or healthcare professional observes any conditions which can affect consciousness, such as TIAs (ischaemic attacks), epilepsy, and vasovagal syncope.
Behaviour – The affected individual is examined for any ‘challenging’ behaviour. This includes severe disinhibition (behaving in a way which goes against social norms), aggression, extreme frustration, and variations or fluctuations in mental states.
Breathing – The assessor evaluates the individual for breathing-related problems. This typically includes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, and breathing problems due to recurrent chest infections.
Cognition – The assessor checks for cognitive impairment and classifies it according to need. This looks at the individual’s level of confusion, orientation and memory. It also considers their ability to assess risks.
Communication – The healthcare practitioner evaluates the individual’s ability to communicate their needs in an adequate and effective way.
Continence – This domain examines the affected individual’s continence requirements. This would consider things like any incontinence, catheters, stomas, urinary tract infections and constipation.
Drug therapies & medication – This specific domain focuses on symptom control and pain. It also analyses the individual’s drug regimen and any accompanying health complications as a result.
Mobility – In this domain, various issues are factored in depending on how they manifest. For example, one affected individual might be more susceptible to trips and falls, while another may be completely bedridden.
Nutrition – Assessors look for issues around food aspiration, which includes dehydration or malnutrition risks.
Psychological & emotional needs – This domain analyses an individual’s psychological and emotional requirements, and how they might impact overall care (if at all).
Skin – This area considers skin-related challenges, including skin integrity, and whether the affected individual has any open wounds or pressure sores.
Other significant care needs – This area or domain covers a broad spectrum of needs and identifies multiple health requirements on a person-to-person or case-by-case basis.
Here is an example of how the scoring or grading in the NHS checklist for Continuing Healthcare works:
For the domain “Nutrition”, a ‘B’ score would mean that the individual requires feeding or he/she is unable to take food and medication on their own. A ‘C’ score would indicate that the individual can consume adequate food and drink by mouth or on his own but requires supervision or supplementary feeding.
CHC checklist form – What to know
Just to quickly recap what we’ve covered up till now:
- The NHS Continuing Healthcare Checklist is a screening tool used in multiple settings to help health practitioners identify individuals who require a referral for a complete assessment, so that they can qualify for Continuing Healthcare funding.
- The Checklist threshold has been intentionally set low to help those requiring a full eligibility assessment easily avail this opportunity.
- Only two potential outcomes can be had after completing the Checklist – ‘negative’, which means that the affected individual does not require a full eligibility assessment and, therefore, not eligible for CHC, and ‘positive’, which means the individual requires a full eligibility assessment for CHC, although this does not automatically guarantee that he/she will get CHC funding.
- The Checklist can be completed by different categories of health and social care practitioners, such as a GP, nurse, social worker, and healthcare provider, that is, as long as they have been formally trained to use it.
- Such practitioners are required to make a proactive effort to involve the affected individual or their representative as much as possible during the assessment and review process for CHC funding.
A sample of the complete CHC Checklist Form can be reviewed here.
What is a CHC checklist?
A CHC Checklist is a kind of screening tool or initial assessment, if you will, which determines if an affected individual qualifies for a more detailed assessment of their eligibility for the NHS’s CHC funding. So, to put it simply, it is a brief and straightforward evaluation of an individual’s care needs.
If you pass the Checklist, you are referred to a full CHC assessment. If you don’t, you are told that you do not meet the eligibly criteria for a full assessment. You can, of course, challenge this decision by working with a solicitor, as long as you have reasonable grounds or believe that you were unfairly evaluated.
CHC checklist process
As we know by now, the Continuing Healthcare Checklist is a brief assessment to determine whether an individual is eligible to receive the NHS’s CHC package. Here’s how the CHC checklist process works:
- A registered healthcare professional or practitioner completes the Checklist.
- If you pass the checklist, you are referred to a full CHC assessment.
- The full assessment incorporates the DST (Decision Support Tool) form to further evaluate your care needs.
- The final stage of the assessment determines if you are eligible to receive CHC.
The checklist can be completed in a variety of settings although, ideally, is should be done where the affected individual lives or is being provided day-to-day care.
