NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) for home care. A practical guide for families in & around Newark

Andy Griffin
15 hours ago
2 min read

If you’re arranging home care or domiciliary care for a loved one with complex needs, you may be entitled to NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) funding. CHC is a package of care that’s arranged and funded solely by the NHS for adults with significant ongoing needs. It isn’t means-tested, so it’s based on clinical need, not savings. CHC can be provided in your own home (not just in a care home).

The key word you’ll keep hearing: “primary health need”

Eligibility hinges on whether your relative has a primary health need. In practice, the NHS considers the totality of needs using four characteristics: nature, intensity, complexity, unpredictability.

How the NHS Continuing Healthcare process usually works (and where families get stuck)

Most people start with the CHC Checklist (a screening tool). If that indicates potential eligibility, the case should progress to a full assessment using the Decision Support Tool (DST), which pulls together evidence across care domains and risks.

Your local Integrated Care Board (ICB) is responsible for CHC decision-making in your area.

“Top-up fees” in domiciliary care. What to watch for

Families are sometimes told they must pay extra because the funded rate “doesn’t cover it”. A simple principle helps cut through the noise.

If support is an assessed need in the care plan, the CHC package should be sufficient to meet those needs. People shouldn’t be asked to pay towards meeting assessed needs.

Examples often seen in home care:

Two carers for safe transfers, hoisting, or high falls risk
Supervision for confusion, wandering, choking risk, or unsafe behaviours
Medication support where errors would be dangerous
Help with eating and drinking where safety, nutrition, or aspiration risk is present

Where Helping at Home fits

Families don’t just need carers. They need clarity, consistency, and a team that adapts as needs change. At Helping at Home, we deliberately choose to stay small so we can protect continuity and genuinely value the relationship with each and every client.

What families say, in their words:

“Adaptable, reliable, and a godsend. Always there, kind and cheerful.”
“We have been using Helping at Home for nearly 2 years, and in that time, we have found all the staff to be most helpful and respectful.”
“Without exception I have found all I have come in contact with to be caring, kind, and very responsive to my father’s ongoing and changing needs.”
“The management team have been amazing, so quick to put in some urgent care and the carers visiting have all been very caring, thorough and professional.”