What Happens If You're Denied NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding? Your Next Steps

Receiving a CHC refusal is a significant moment (but it is not necessarily the end). Many CHC decisions are successfully overturned on appeal. In particular, refusals where domains have been under-scored, where clinical evidence has not been considered properly, or where the unpredictability of needs has not been factored into the assessment, are strong candidates for challenge.

There are common patterns that suggest a refusal may have been incorrect:

- One or more DST domains appear to be scored lower than the person's actual needs would indicate

- The assessment did not adequately capture behaviour, cognition, or psychological need

- The 'nature, intensity, complexity, and unpredictability' framework was not properly applied

- The MDT lacked full clinical input, or key medical evidence was not presented

- The person's needs were assessed during a 'good' period that does not reflect their typical experience