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NHS Continuing Healthcare
The Ombudsman and CHC Complaints
The final stage, and when it applies
When does the Ombudsman come in?
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is the final stage of an NHS Continuing Healthcare dispute in England. It examines maladministration and procedural failure, once local resolution and the Independent Review Panel have been completed. The Ombudsman service is free to use.
Plain English
For families and professionals
England and Wales
National coverage
Registered professionals
Written and reviewed
The Ombudsman is not a third appeal. It looks at whether the NHS bodies involved did their job properly, and its remedies flow from failures in administration and process. Knowing that shapes whether the route has substance in a given case. This guide describes the system in England. Wales operates its own Continuing NHS Healthcare framework through health boards.
When the Ombudsman route applies
The route is realistic when:
- Local resolution and the Independent Review Panel have been completed
- There is evidence of maladministration or procedural failure, not just disagreement with the outcome
- The failures can be shown from the paperwork: dates, correspondence, records and decisions
How to prepare
Before approaching the Ombudsman:
- Complete the earlier stages first: the Ombudsman expects the process to have been used
- Assemble the full paper trail in date order
- Identify each failure precisely: what should have happened, what actually happened, what it cost the person
- Keep the complaint factual and referenced
- Be realistic about timescales: this stage is measured in months, not weeks
Where people often go wrong
- Going to the Ombudsman with disagreement about the outcome but no procedural failure to show
- Skipping the panel stage and expecting the Ombudsman to fill the gap
- Burying the strong points in a long account of everything that went wrong
- Missing that the Ombudsman remedies administration failures rather than re-scoring needs
- Going to the Ombudsman with disagreement about the outcome but no procedural failure to show
- Skipping the panel stage and expecting the Ombudsman to fill the gap
- Burying the strong points in a long account of everything that went wrong
- Missing that the Ombudsman remedies administration failures rather than re-scoring needs
What the Ombudsman examines
The Ombudsman investigates whether the bodies involved acted properly: whether the process followed the National Framework, whether decisions were explained, whether timescales and communication met reasonable standards, and whether failures caused injustice. Where it finds failure, it can recommend remedies.
The practical work is the paper trail. A complaint that shows, document by document, what should have happened and what actually happened is one the Ombudsman can investigate efficiently.
A social work led multidisciplinary practice
Nellie Supports is a social work led multidisciplinary specialist practice working across England and Wales, operating through a permanent, full-time employed team that has completed more than 11,000 assessments. Our NHS Continuing Healthcare work prepares and presents the evidence of need at every stage of the process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Ombudsman cost anything?
No. The Ombudsman service is free to use. The cost is time and effort, which is why the route should only be taken where the evidence of failure is real.
Can the Ombudsman award funding?
The Ombudsman remedies maladministration and procedural failure. Where failure is found, its recommendations can include putting right what the failure caused.
Do we need to finish the panel stage first?
In the ordinary course, yes. The Ombudsman expects the NHS complaint and review process to have been used before it investigates.
This guide is general information about NHS Continuing Healthcare in England, not legal advice, and does not create a professional relationship. Nellie Supports provides independent social work assessment, evidence and advocacy support. We do not provide regulated legal advice, and where a legal remedy is needed we will say so and support your solicitor's work.