FOI 2025/1474

I am making this request on behalf of a wider group of carers who are increasingly concerned about the consistency and fairness of CHC assessments across England. Many families are experiencing confusion and distress around access to funding and support, and we wish to understand how local implementation of the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care aligns with statutory guidance.
Please note that we are submitting the same set of questions to all Integrated Care Boards in England to build a national picture of CHC processes. Once collated, responses will be anonymised and may be shared publicly (for example with carer organisations, local MPs and health policy bodies) to support constructive discussion and improvement of practice.
We appreciate the pressures faced by staff in the health and care system and thank you in advance for your time and attention in responding to this request.
Freedom of Information Request
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request the following information relating to NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) within NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board for the period 1 November 2024 – 31 October 2025:
1. Checklist and Assessment Numbers
a. The number of completed CHC checklists submitted by health or social care professionals in the past 12 months.
b. Of those that met the threshold for a full CHC assessment, how many proceeded to a full Decision Support Tool (DST) assessment?
2. Policies or Guidance on ‘Optimisation for Assessment’
a. Please provide any internal or published ICB policies, guidance, protocols or standard operating procedures referring to patients being “optimised for assessment.”
b. Please confirm whether this concept is referenced in your CHC eligibility procedures and, if so, where it derives from in national guidance.
3. Assessment Outcomes
a. How many full CHC assessments (DSTs) were completed in the last 12 months?
b. Of those, how many resulted in eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding?
Please provide the information in electronic format (for example Excel, CSV or PDF).
If any part of this request would exceed the statutory cost limit, please advise which elements can be supplied within the limit and provide those portions first.

1. The information requested is publicly available and can be accessed using the following link.

Statistics » Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care

2. NHS Greater Manchester has 10 CHC Heads of Department (HODs) and 10 Associate Director of Quality (ADQs) at place, who professionally lead and ensure our clinical governance and compliance to the national framework, in delivering our statutory duties. The CHC HODs oversee clinical supervision for Nurse Assessors to ensure their assessments are clinically appropriate.

National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care – July 2022 (Revised) – corrected May 2023

3. The information requested is publicly available and can be accessed using the following link.

Statistics » Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care