Continuing Healthcare: Getting it right first time
This report identifies failings in NHS Continuing Healthcare and makes recommendations for improvements.
Applies to England
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This report draws on 60 complaints about NHS Continuing Healthcare resolved by the Parliamentary and Healthcare Ombudsman in the last three years.
We found not only significant failings in care and support planning but also failings in reviews of previously unassessed periods of care. These mistakes mean people have unnecessarily paid out large sums to cover care, or gone without care because of incorrect or delayed decisions. Many have faced years of uncertainty about their future finances and experienced stress, anxiety and ill-health as a result.
The report makes recommendations to support those on the frontline of NHS Continuing Healthcare to:
- learn from mistakes
- improve quality of care
- consistently apply national guidance to deliver care packages that meet people’s needs.
The recommendations are practical and achievable but we recognise the unprecedented pressures on the NHS due to COVID-19. We understand that it may take longer than usual for them to be implemented.
We ask the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement to write to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee and the Health and Social Care Select Committee in six months with an update on progress in planning and delivering these recommendations.