NHS Continuing Healthcare K&C and H&F: Your Complete 2026 Funding Guide for Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham

What Is NHS Continuing Healthcare?

NHS CHC is a fully funded care package for adults outside hospital whose primary need is health-related, not just social care. If eligible, the NHS pays for personal care, nursing care, medication management, equipment, and — importantly — live-in care at home, not just care home fees.

This matters for K&C and H&F families: if your loved one is approved for CHC and you choose live-in care in Kensington & Chelsea or Hammersmith & Fulham, the NHS funds it. Your loved one stays home. You pay nothing.

NHS CHC Is Not Means-Tested

This is the single most misunderstood fact about CHC — and the one most likely to stop eligible K&C and H&F families from applying.

• Your loved one can own a Chelsea townhouse worth £5 million and still qualify
• Savings, pensions, and rental income are irrelevant to the decision
• The means test applies to council social care funding — not NHS CHC
• The only question is whether they have a primary health need

The 12 Care Domains — How Assessors Score Eligibility

A full CHC assessment uses the Decision Support Tool, scoring 12 domains from No Needs to Priority. A single Priority score in any of the four starred domains below typically results in eligibility on its own — a combination of Severe scores across several domains can also qualify.

The four starred domains carry particular weight because they tend to indicate needs that are genuinely unpredictable and health-led, rather than purely social. Behaviour covers challenging or unsafe behaviours that put the person or others at risk. Cognition covers memory, understanding, and capacity to make safe decisions. Drug Therapies and Medication covers complex regimes that need specialist oversight — precision-timed Parkinson's medication is a common example. Altered States of Consciousness covers seizures, loss of consciousness, or significantly reduced awareness.

Conditions that commonly meet the threshold include advanced dementia, Parkinson's disease, stroke with complex needs, and progressive neurological conditions like MS — though eligibility is always based on assessed needs, never diagnosis alone. Two people with the same diagnosis can receive different decisions depending on the severity and complexity of how it actually affects them day to day.

NHS Continuing Healthcare K&C and H&F — The Local Process

K&C and H&F share a single Continuing Healthcare Team alongside Westminster, under NHS West and North London ICB. No other Kensington & Chelsea or Hammersmith & Fulham care guide has published this contact information — it's the same competitive gap our Westminster CHC guide filled with the CNWL Memory Service.

Whether your loved one is being discharged from Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Charing Cross, or Hammersmith Hospital, the discharge team can initiate a Checklist screening before they even leave the ward — this is the fastest route into the CHC process and avoids a gap in care once your loved one is home. If you're arranging live-in care in Kensington & Chelsea or Hammersmith & Fulham around a hospital discharge, ask us to help coordinate the CHC referral at the same time.

How to Apply for NHS CHC — Step by Step

1. Request a Checklist screening. This can be done by a GP, hospital discharge team, or community nurse — or you can call the CHC service line on 020 3198 9743 directly and ask. The Checklist is a brief screening exercise across the same care domains as the full assessment, and the threshold to pass it is deliberately low, so it's worth requesting even if you're unsure your loved one will qualify.
2. If positive, a full Multidisciplinary Team assessment follows. A panel typically including a nurse assessor and a social worker scores all 12 domains in detail using the Decision Support Tool. You and your family have the right to attend and contribute, and it's worth preparing evidence beforehand — a written account of a typical 24-hour period, medical records, and input from your GP or specialist all strengthen the case.
3. The ICB makes the final decision, usually within 28 days of the full assessment. In practice, the ICB follows the MDT's recommendation in the great majority of cases. If approved, you choose your care provider — select Joyful Care for live-in care and the NHS pays us directly.

If You're Refused — Your Right to Appeal

A refusal is not final. You can request a local review, then escalate to an Independent Review Panel if still unsatisfied. For K&C and H&F residents, appeals go to nhsnwl.chc.appeals@nhs.net. New evidence often changes the outcome, and funding can sometimes be backdated. Joyful Care supports appeals at no additional charge.

If CHC Doesn't Apply — Other Funding Routes

NHS CHC is the most valuable funding available, but it isn't the only option if your loved one doesn't qualify for the full package.

• NHS-Funded Nursing Care — a flat-rate weekly NHS contribution toward the nursing element of care, for people who don't meet the full CHC threshold but still have some nursing needs
• Council social care funding — means-tested support from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea or Hammersmith & Fulham Council, arranged via a care needs assessment
• Attendance Allowance — £72.65–£108.55 per week, non-means-tested, for people over State Pension age who need help with personal care due to illness or disability
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP) — for those under State Pension age with a long-term health condition affecting daily living or mobility

See our full costs and funding guide for a complete breakdown of all funding routes, or call us and we'll talk through which options are likely to apply to your situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact Joyful Care

Want to find out whether your loved one may qualify for NHS Continuing Healthcare K&C and H&F funding? Call us for an honest, no-obligation conversation.

Available 24/7 for urgent care enquiries.