Glossary · UK
What is Continuing Healthcare Funding?
NHS funding that fully covers the care costs of adults with a primary health need, regardless of their income or assets.
Full Definition
NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is a package of care arranged and funded entirely by the NHS for adults assessed as having a primary health need, meaning their care needs are mainly medical rather than social. Unlike local authority social care, CHC is not means-tested, so eligibility does not depend on income, savings or property, and it can cover the full cost of care in a person's own home or in a care home, including nursing. Eligibility is decided through a checklist screening followed by a full assessment using the national Decision Support Tool, which weighs needs across domains such as mobility, cognition and medication. Decisions can be appealed. CHC matters financially because qualifying removes the care-cost burden that would otherwise erode a person's savings and home value under the means-tested social care system. Where someone narrowly misses CHC but has nursing needs in a care home, NHS-funded Nursing Care may instead pay a contribution towards nursing costs.