Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has received reports of clinical commissioning groups refusing to pay for NHS Continuing Healthcare home care packages if they exceed the cost of a care home place by more than 10 per cent.

The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare makes clear that the starting point for agreeing a NHS Continuing Healthcare care package and the setting where NHS Continuing Healthcare services are to be provided should be the individual’s preferences. However, in some situations a model of support preferred by the individual will be more expensive than other options and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) can take comparative costs and value for money into account when determining the model of support to be provided.

NHS England is working to encourage the development and dissemination of good practice by CCGs in relation to commissioning NHS Continuing Healthcare care packages.