Continuing Healthcare Guides and Resource Directory
This directory brings together Nellie Supports' NHS Continuing Healthcare guides, organised by stage. It is designed for solicitors, deputies, attorneys, case managers, families and professionals who need clear guidance on the CHC process, eligibility and funding, appeals and challenges, and retrospective claims. Use the sections below to find guides on the Checklist, the Decision Support Tool, primary health need, Fast Track, appeals and the Independent Review Panel, and retrospective and PUPoC claims
How to use this directory
The guides on this page are grouped into topic clusters so you can quickly move to the area most relevant to your needs. Within each cluster, you will find detailed articles answering common questions, explaining key legal and practical issues, and helping you understand what may be required before taking the next step.
Some guides are written for individuals and families who want straightforward explanations. Others are intended to support solicitors, deputies, case managers, healthcare professionals and other practitioners who need clearer technical guidance around assessments, evidence, reporting and decision-making.
What you will find here
Our resource library is designed to make complex subjects easier to follow. Depending on the topic, guides may explain legal tests, practical steps, evidential requirements, common misunderstandings, warning signs of dispute, or the differences between similar processes and services.
As the library grows, this directory will continue to act as the main access point for all guide clusters across the website, making it easier to explore related topics in a structured way rather than searching for pages individually.
Who these guides are for
This directory is intended for a wide audience. That includes people seeking support for themselves or a relative, professionals involved in legal or care-related decision-making, and referrers who want to better understand the issues before arranging formal input.
Because many situations involve overlapping legal, health, care and evidential questions, the guides are written to be informative without losing sight of real-world use. They are intended to support better understanding, not replace decision-specific professional advice where a formal assessment, report or legal opinion is required.
Browse our continuing health care guides
Choose a category below to jump directly to the relevant guide section. Each section brings together related NHS Continuing Healthcare guides by stage, helping families, solicitors, deputies, attorneys and professionals find the right information quickly
Appeals and redress
What makes a CHC decision flawed
How to challenge a Checklist that scored too low
Local resolution: what to expect
The NHS England Independent Review Panel explained
What evidence supports a CHC appeal
Procedural and substantive grounds of appeal
Common reasons CHC appeals do not succeed
Can you appeal a Fast Track decision
Preparing for a Local Resolution Meeting
What happens at an Independent Review Panel hearing
Who can appeal on someone else's behalf
Appealing after a decision has been accepted
Paying for care
What CHC funding covers and what it does not
Do you have to sell your home to pay for care
Local authority charging versus NHS funding
CHC funding at home versus in a care home
Section 117 aftercare versus CHC
Joint packages: shared NHS and council funding
Personal Health Budgets under CHC
The 12-week property disregard explained
Deferred payment agreements and CHC
Conditions and CHC funding
Alzheimer's disease and CHC funding
Vascular dementia and CHC funding
Lewy body dementia and CHC funding
Frontotemporal dementia and CHC funding
Parkinson's disease and CHC funding
Motor Neurone Disease and CHC funding
Huntington's disease and CHC funding
Multiple sclerosis and CHC funding
Acquired brain injury and CHC funding
Spinal cord injury and CHC funding
Learning disability and CHC funding
Eligibility and the legal test
The four key characteristics: nature, intensity, complexity, unpredictability
The well-managed need principle and why families lose funding on it
Health need or social care need: where the line sits
Why a diagnosis alone does not decide CHC eligibility
Who decides CHC eligibility and on what evidence
What nature of need means in a CHC assessment
What intensity of need means in a CHC assessment
What complexity of need means in a CHC assessment
What unpredictability of need means in a CHC assessment
The Coughlan judgment and the limits of council-funded care
The Grogan judgment and lawful CHC decision-making
Does the care setting affect CHC eligibility
CHC eligibility for adults under 65
The 12 care domains
CHC domain levels explained: no needs to priority
Which domain scores trigger CHC eligibility
The breathing domain in the Decision Support Tool
The nutrition domain in the Decision Support Tool
The continence domain in the Decision Support Tool
The skin and tissue viability domain
The mobility domain in the Decision Support Tool
The communication domain in the Decision Support Tool
The psychological and emotional needs domain
The cognition domain in the Decision Support Tool
The behaviour domain in the Decision Support Tool
The drug therapies and medication domain
The assessment process
What happens at a Checklist meeting
The 28-day timescale and what to do when it is missed
Who can complete a CHC Checklist
What a Checklist outcome actually means
Who sits on the multidisciplinary team
The MDT recommendation and who makes the final decision
How to prepare for a CHC assessment
CHC assessment and hospital discharge
Discharge to Assess and how it affects CHC
What to bring to a CHC assessment
Can a family member attend the CHC assessment
What happens after the Decision Support Tool is completed
CHC reviews: the 3-month and annual review
