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NHS Continuing Healthcare · England
Zanith CHC Consultancy works with families to secure a fair Continuing Healthcare assessment, overturn refusals, and reclaim care fees that were never theirs to pay.
Takes about three minutes. We reply within five working days.
Illustrative. Decision letters vary by ICB.
If you were turned down, you are in the majority. Fewer than one in six people who reach a full assessment are found eligible — down from around a third in 2017.
Rates also differ sharply between NHS boards, from roughly 2% to 35%. The same needs can receive a different answer depending on where someone lives — which is often exactly what makes a decision worth challenging.
Where you are right now
Most people find us at one of five moments. Each needs a different piece of work — and each has its own deadlines.
“We’ve been told Mum doesn’t qualify — but nobody has really assessed her.”
We review the care records against the National Framework before anything is submitted, so the Checklist and Decision Support Tool reflect the needs as they actually are.
Check where you stand →“A checklist was done weeks ago. Now we’re just waiting.”
This is the stage where sound cases are most often lost, because the records going in do not show what the care actually involves. We make sure they do, before the panel sees them.
Prepare for an assessment →“The assessment happened. They said no. It didn’t feel right.”
We identify where the domain scoring or the evidence went wrong and put the case to Local Resolution and, where needed, an Independent Review Panel.
Challenge a decision →“We appealed. They turned us down again.”
A local refusal is not the last word. Cases can go to an Independent Review Panel and, beyond that, to the Ombudsman — and decisions do get overturned at that stage.
Take it further →“We’ve been paying care home fees for years. Should we have been?”
For periods of care that were never properly assessed, we obtain the historic records and build the claim to recover fees that the NHS should have met.
Look at a past period →None of these quite sound like you? That is the most common answer we hear. Start an enquiry anyway and we will work out where you stand together.
How eligibility is decided
Eligibility is not decided on a diagnosis, and not on savings. It is scored across twelve areas of care need, from No needs up to a ceiling that differs by domain.
But the score is rarely where a case is won or lost. What matters is the evidence sitting behind it — whether the daily records actually show what the care involves, and whether the assessor read them that way. Two people with identical needs can receive opposite decisions on the strength of how the evidence was written up.
How a case runs
A sequence, not a black box. You will know which stage you are at and what happens next.
You tell us the situation. We tell you honestly whether there is a case worth pursuing.
Subject Access Requests to the care home, GP and ICB. Nothing can be argued without them.
Every domain re-examined against the National Framework, with the evidence referenced line by line.
At the multidisciplinary team meeting, Local Resolution, and an Independent Review Panel if it goes that far.
Explained in plain English — including what to do if the answer still isn’t right.
What we see most often
Refusals rarely come down to a lack of need. They come down to how the need was recorded, framed and evidenced.
Daily nursing tasks written up as “personal care” in the care plan, which pushes the domain scores down before anyone reaches an assessment.
We doRe-read the records and re-present the same needs in framework language.
A need that is under control because of skilled intervention is still a need. The framework says so explicitly — it is one of the most commonly misapplied rules.
We doShow what the need would be without the care currently in place.
Assessments run on a summary rather than the full picture: no incident logs, no charts, no GP notes, no out-of-hours records.
We doRequest the full record set and build the case on what it shows.
About Zanith CHC
Zanith CHC Consultancy was set up to do one thing: make sure people get the Continuing Healthcare funding they are entitled to, without a fight they should never have had to have.
Our background is in frontline healthcare, and our work is in Continuing Healthcare assessments, appeals and retrospective claims — so cases are built and evidenced the way they need to be read.
Timescales vary by ICB. We confirm the deadlines that apply to your case on the first call.
Common questions
A package of care arranged and fully funded by the NHS for people with significant ongoing healthcare needs. It can be provided in a care home, a nursing home or in someone’s own home. Where it applies, it covers the full cost of care — there is nothing to means test.
Eligibility rests on whether someone has a “primary health need”, judged on the nature, intensity, complexity and unpredictability of their needs. It is not decided by diagnosis, and it is not affected by savings, income or property.
It usually starts with a Checklist — a short screening. If that is met, a multidisciplinary team completes the full Decision Support Tool across the twelve care domains and makes a recommendation to the Integrated Care Board, which takes the final decision.
It varies. A straightforward assessment can take a few weeks; appeals and retrospective claims run longer, largely because of how long it takes to obtain historic records. We give you a realistic timeline for your case, not a best case.
You have the right to ask for the decision to be reviewed. That starts with Local Resolution at the ICB and, if it isn’t resolved there, can go to an Independent Review Panel convened by NHS England. There are time limits, so it is worth checking the date on your decision letter.
Sometimes, yes. If a period of care was never properly assessed for CHC, it may be possible to have that period reviewed retrospectively and recover fees that the NHS should have met. These claims depend heavily on the records that still exist.
You are entitled to do it yourself, and some families do. Where support makes the most difference is in obtaining the full record set, translating day-to-day care into framework language, and holding the line at panel. If we don’t think we’d add value to your case, we’ll say so.
Typically care plans, daily notes and charts, risk assessments, GP and hospital records, medication records, and any correspondence with the ICB. We request most of it on your behalf — you don’t need to have it ready to make an enquiry.
The first 15-minute consultation is free. Beyond that, fees depend on the level of support your case needs. We set them out clearly in writing before any work begins, and there is no obligation to proceed.
NHS Continuing Healthcare is the system used in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland operate different arrangements. Give us your postcode when you enquire and we will confirm straight away whether we can help.
Health records are special category data under UK GDPR. We collect only what a case requires, hold it securely, and share it only where you have authorised us to. Zanith CHC Consultancy is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Start your enquiry
A few details is enough to begin. We’ll come back to you to arrange your free 15-minute consultation — usually within one working day.
Prefer to talk? Call us directly, or email enquiries@zanithchc.co.uk