New report demands review of NHS Continuing Care

Wide variations in the provision of NHS Continuing Care funding for people with dementia have been exposed in a new report by Sally Keeble, former MP and prospective Labour parliamentary candidate.

NHS Continuing Care is a funding package to provide free healthcare for people with severe health needs.

Across the 162 Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) surveyed,  Ms Keeble discovered a lack of funding for advocacy services to aid families applying for continuing healthcare support – only four CCGs allocated specific funding to advocacy.

The study also found that the role of family carers in the decision-making process is frequently unclear. The training of assessors is inconsistent too, with six CCGs admitting that they do not provide any training at all.

Ms Keeble’s report calls for a review of how CCGs assess people for continuing healthcare funding to protect against a postcode lottery.

Commenting on the report’s findings, Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s Society, said: "Callers to our Dementia Helpline tell us that applying for continuing healthcare for a loved one with dementia is a minefield. All too often we hear of families who are refused funding because their local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) does not adhere to proper process.

"It is entirely unacceptable that there is no duty on CCGs to fund advocacy services – which are essential to support families through the complex assessment process. A thorough review of NHS continuing care is needed to ensure vulnerable people are not unfairly disadvantaged by a flawed and poorly implemented system."