Deadline approaches for NHS continuing healthcare
Make sure to notify your local Primary Care Trust now if you think you should have been assessed and haven’t.
Anyone who believes that the NHS should have in the past carried out an assessment into paying for their or their loved one’s care due to health reasons has until Sunday 30 September to apply.
The deadline only applies to:
- those who have never received an assessment for NHS Continuing Healthcare - the package of health and social care that is arranged and funded solely by the NHS and is free to the patient; and
- those who believe they may have been eligible for periods of care which occurred between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2011.
Anyone who meets these two criteria should contact their local Primary Care Trust before Sunday 30 September - details can be found online at NHS Choices or in the phone book.
They do not need any legal advice to request to be considered for an assessment and they only need to notify their local PCT by 30 September, there is no need to present a full medical history.
Public Health Minister, Anna Soubry said:
“In March we asked the NHS to communicate this deadline as quickly and effectively as possible to local people through whatever means necessary.
“However, if you are not aware of the deadline then please don’t worry. If you believe that you or a loved one should have been assessed for eligibility for a past period of care, then all you need to do is contact your local Primary Care Trust by this Sunday. You can find their contact details online at NHS Choices, or in the phone book.
“The deadline to register for an assessment is fast approaching and we want everyone that should have been entitled to be assessed for a past period of care to be considered as soon as possible.”
People who have not been assessed and think there is evidence that they should have been, need to notify the local Primary Care Trust by Sunday 30 September.
NHS Continuing Healthcare is a package of health and social care that is arranged and funded solely by the NHS, subject to the assessment of a person’s care needs - this is free to the individual.
Individuals may be eligible for an NHS Continuing Healthcare package if they are assessed as having a primary health need. For those people found eligible, the NHS becomes responsible for providing all of that individual’s assessed care needs.
Back in March, the Department of Health wrote to the NHS asking them to publicise the deadline by whatever means necessary to ensure that people in their local areas, who received care and think they may have been eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare, have the opportunity to come forward before 30 September 2012.
This deadline only applies to people who have never received an assessment before and think they may be eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare for periods of care, which occurred between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2011.
However, in exceptional circumstances the local NHS may still take applications for NHS Continuing Healthcare after the deadline.
A similar deadline exists for previously un-assessed care during the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012. For that period the deadline is 31 March 2013.
If someone has already had an assessment for NHS Continuing Healthcare before 1 April 2012 and has received a decision from the NHS, even if they disagree with that decision and want to challenge it, this deadline does not apply.
NOTES TO EDITORS
• If you or a relative had an assessment for NHS Continuing Healthcare before 1 April 2012 and have received a decision from the NHS, even if you disagree with that decision and want to appeal, these deadlines don’t apply.
• You do not need to present all your medical history by 30 September, but merely notify your local PCT.