Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many fast-track applications for continuing healthcare funding have been rejected by each clinical commissioning group in the last twelve months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

The statistical information regarding individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and the eligibility of Fast Track applications is attached.

In the last 12 months, all completed assessments for the Continuing Healthcare Fast Track Pathway have resulted in the individual being found eligible. This is because, under the National Framework for Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care, the completed Fast Track Pathway Tool, with clear reasons why the individual fulfils the criteria and which clearly evidences that an individual is both rapidly deteriorating and may be entering terminal phase, is in itself sufficient to establish eligibility.

However, some Fast Track Pathway referrals do not meet this criteria. The National Framework for Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care specifies that ‘exceptionally, there may be circumstances where CCGs receive a completed Tool which appears to show that the individual’s condition is not related to the above criteria at all.’ In these instances, NHS England advises that the referral be recorded as ‘discounted before assessment’. This category also includes other scenarios, for instance those cases where the individual passes away.

Data regarding this group has only been collected since the second quarter of 2018-19. During the six months for which we have data since then, 1,838 referrals have been recorded as ‘discounted before assessment’. During this period, 45,484 referrals for the Fast Track Pathway were assessed as eligible.