NHS Continuing Healthcare
CHC Checklist Screening Support: Get the First NHS Stage Right
Preparation, representation and challenge support for the NHS Continuing Healthcare Checklist across England
Checklist screening support helps a family prepare for the NHS Continuing Healthcare Checklist, the screening stage that decides whether a full assessment goes ahead. A registered social worker explains the process, prepares the evidence of need in the language the Checklist scores, can attend the screening meeting, and challenges the outcome where a Checklist is wrongly negative or has been refused altogether. The fixed fee is £1,250 plus VAT.
£1,250
Fixed fee, plus VAT, stated before instruction
One working day
Enquiry triage response
England
Wales runs a separate Continuing NHS Healthcare framework
Social work led
Registered social workers, peer reviewed
Nellie Supports is England and Wales' largest identified specialist private social work and mental capacity assessment practice, operating through a permanent, full-time employed team that has completed more than 11,000 assessments. Our NHS Continuing Healthcare support is social work led: we prepare and present the evidence of need. We are not a law firm and not a claims company.
When you may need Checklist support
The Checklist is the gateway to the whole CHC process. It is a screening tool completed by a health or social care professional, and a positive result triggers the full Decision Support Tool assessment. Families often need support when a Checklist is coming up, when one has been refused or not offered, or when a negative Checklist does not reflect the person's real needs.
Anyone can ask for a Checklist to be completed. Support at this stage means the request is made properly, the person's needs are evidenced in the language the tool scores, and a wrong outcome is challenged rather than accepted. Every new Nellie Supports case starts with the Independent Social Care Needs Assessment and Care Plan, which creates the evidence this stage draws on.
The framework the Checklist applies
NHS Continuing Healthcare in England is governed by the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care, in its 2022 revision. The Checklist is the National Framework's screening tool, with a deliberately low threshold: its job is to decide who should receive a full assessment, not who is eligible.
Eligibility ultimately turns on whether the person has a primary health need, judged by the nature, intensity, complexity and unpredictability of their overall needs. Because the Checklist uses a simplified version of the care domains, describing needs in the right language at this stage protects the person's position for everything that follows.
Nature of the person's needs
Intensity of the person's needs
Complexity of the person's needs
Unpredictability of the person's needs
Framework: National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care (2022 revision); the Checklist screening tool and its threshold; the primary health need test
For more, read our guide: The CHC Checklist explained
Our support process
Initial enquiry and triage
Contact us by phone, email or website form. We gather the key details and confirm whether Checklist support is the right route within one working day.
Scope and fixed fee
We confirm the scope, the fixed fee plus VAT and any travel charge, in writing before you commit to anything.
Requesting the Checklist
Where no Checklist has been offered, we draft the request and advocacy letter so the screening is arranged properly rather than deflected.
Preparation and the screening meeting
A registered social worker prepares the evidence of need in the language the Checklist scores and can attend the screening meeting to present it.
Outcome and next steps
A positive Checklist moves the case to the full Decision Support Tool assessment. A wrong negative is challenged, with a written explanation of the options either way.
What you receive
Support is practical and evidence led. You receive:
The Checklist process explained in plain English
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A Checklist request and advocacy letter where screening has not been offered
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A domain-by-domain evidence summary for the screening
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Attendance and representation at the screening meeting
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Challenge of a wrongly negative or refused Checklist
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A written summary of the outcome and the next steps
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Fees
£1,250 plus VAT
Checklist screening support £1,250 plus VAT, fixed. Every new case starts with the Independent Social Care Needs Assessment and Care Plan, £1,100 plus VAT, charged once per client. Travel for in-person attendance is confirmed in writing before booking.
Travel for in-person attendance is confirmed in writing before booking.
Fixed fee confirmed in writing
The whole price, plus VAT, is agreed before instruction.
Records review
A registered social worker reads the care records properly.
Evidence in the language of the domains
Needs are described the way the Checklist scores them.
Attendance at the screening
Representation at the Checklist meeting, in person or remote.
Challenge where the outcome is wrong
A wrongly negative or refused Checklist is challenged, not accepted.
Peer review as standard
A second qualified professional reviews the work before it is used.
How Checklist support works in practice
A daughter asked the hospital discharge team whether her father would be screened for NHS Continuing Healthcare before he moved to a nursing home. She was told, wrongly, that he would not qualify so there was no point. No Checklist was ever completed.
A registered social worker drafted the request and advocacy letter, setting out the legal position: the Checklist threshold is deliberately low, and screening is how the question is answered, not a favour to be granted. The screening was arranged within a fortnight, and the social worker attended it, presenting her father's needs domain by domain from the care records.
The Checklist came back positive, which meant a full Decision Support Tool assessment, not funding. But the screening had been done properly, on complete evidence, and the family walked into the full assessment already prepared.
This is an illustrative example. It does not describe any individual client.
Why families and professionals choose Nellie Supports
Social work led, not a claims company
Registered social workers prepare and present the evidence of need. We are not a call centre and not a no-win-no-fee operation.
Evidence in the language of the domains
Needs are described the way the screening scores them, so nothing important is lost in translation.
Fixed fees, plus VAT
The whole price is published and confirmed in writing before instruction. No percentages, no surprises.
A permanent employed team
A full-time, in-house multidisciplinary team, not an ad hoc panel of associates, with more than 11,000 assessments completed practice-wide.
Peer reviewed as standard
Everything we prepare is reviewed by a second qualified professional before it is used.
Honest about outcomes
The screening outcome is the assessors' decision and eligibility is the Integrated Care Board's. We never promise a result, and we say so plainly.
Frequently Asked Questions About Checklist Screening Support
Does a positive Checklist mean funding is awarded?
No. The Checklist is a screening tool, not a decision. A positive Checklist triggers the full assessment, where a multidisciplinary team scores the person's needs across the twelve care domains using the Decision Support Tool. The Integrated Care Board then makes the eligibility decision based on whether the evidence shows a primary health need. The Checklist therefore opens the door to assessment; it does not itself award funding.
Can we ask for a Checklist ourselves?
Yes. Anyone can ask for a Checklist to be completed, and the National Framework has a deliberately low threshold for screening. In practice requests are sometimes deflected or delayed, which is why our support includes drafting the request and advocacy letter so the screening is arranged properly and within a reasonable time.
What if the Checklist has already come back negative?
A negative Checklist can be challenged where it does not reflect the person's real needs, and screening can be repeated where needs change. We review the completed Checklist against the care records, set out where the scoring went wrong, and press for a re-screen or escalation where the evidence supports it.
What does the fixed fee include?
The fixed fee of £1,250 plus VAT covers the records review, the request and advocacy letter where needed, preparation of the evidence, attendance at the screening meeting and challenge of a wrong outcome, with peer review throughout. Travel for in-person attendance is the only possible addition and is confirmed in writing before booking.
Is this legal advice?
No. 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.
Related NHS Continuing Healthcare guides
The CHC Checklist explained
The NHS Continuing Healthcare process explained
CHC eligibility and primary health need
Other CHC support stages
If your situation is at a different stage, our team supports the full NHS Continuing Healthcare pathway.
Independent Social Care Needs Assessment & Care Plan
CHC Assessment Support
CHC Appeal Support
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.
A Checklist is coming up, or has gone wrong?
Contact Nellie Supports to discuss Checklist screening support. We will confirm the right starting point, the fixed fee and the next steps in writing.
We aim to respond to all enquiries the same working day.
Written by Ben Slater, Founder and Managing Director, Nellie Supports. Read our editorial policy.