The NHS’s ‘best kept secret’ scheme covering care and nursing home costs | Personal Finance | Finance

Britain’s NHS will cover Brits’ staggering care costs in full if they meet certain criteria, but many families are unaware that this support exists. It’s offered through the NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) scheme, and it remains one of the system’s “best-kept secrets”, an expert has said.

The support is not means-tested, which means income does not determine your eligibility. Lisa Morgan, partner in the Nursing Care Fee Recovery team at the solicitors Hugh James, said the lack of awareness of the scheme is “a real concern.” She told Express.co.uk: “It exists to ensure that people with significant health needs have their care fully funded by the NHS, regardless of their wealth. But too often, families don’t even know it’s there until they’ve spent thousands of pounds on care that should have been free.”

NHS CHC is a fully funded package of care that some people are entitled to receive as a result of disability, an accident, or illness.

It is available in England and Wales to adults with complex, intense or unpredictable needs and can be provided in a nursing home, a hospital or a person’s own home. Those who are accepted receive fully-funded care from the NHS.

Given the rapidly rising costs of care, nursing home fees, and at-home care, the support can be life-changing.

According to Lottie, a free service that helps families source care, the average weekly fee for a residential care home in the UK is £1,300, compared to £1,512 for a nursing home. Across a whole year, you’ll pay an estimated £67,600 for residential care and £78,600 for nursing care.

The average cost of at-home care currently stands at £1,680 per month, according to Home Care’s data.

People in the UK must fund their own care if they have savings and assets that exceed certain thresholds. These thresholds differ depending on where you live.

In England and Northern Ireland, you must self-fund your care if your savings and assets are worth more than £23,250.

In Scotland, you must self-fund if your total savings and assets exceed £35,000. The threshold is significantly higher in Wales, where total savings and assets exceed £50,000.

According to Care Home, another website that helps families compare and source appropriate care for their loved ones, around half of care home residents aged 65 and over self-fund. Yet, many may qualify to have their fees covered.

Ms Morgan continued: “I regularly see families who are shocked to learn that this funding exists at all. Many only hear about it by chance, long after their relative has entered a care home or been discharged from hospital.

“By then, they’re emotionally and financially drained, trying to navigate a process that can feel complex and inconsistent.”

The scheme is notoriously difficult to gain approval for due to its strict guidelines.

Ms Morgan said: “The system lacks consistency. Decisions can vary between local areas, leading to what many perceive as a postcode lottery. That undermines public confidence and leaves families feeling they have to fight for fairness.”

Ms Morgan’s team have been working with families over the past few years to recover care and nursing home fees, landing some huge successes for those who were found to qualify for CHC. One family were able to recover a staggering £90,000 worth of nursing home fees after initially being rejected for CHC support.

Ian Royale’s father, Alan, was suffering from severe Parkinson’s disease and dementia before he passed away in 2021. He was “unable to communicate or do anything for himself”, yet he was denied support on his first application.

The family had to sell Alan’s house to pay for the £5,000 a week nursing home fees. It was only when they appealed the CHC decision, with the help of Ms Morgan’s team, that they were granted the backdated support.

Ms Morgan said: “The principle behind CHC is simple: if your needs are primarily health-related, the NHS — not the individual — should cover the cost. Yet in practice, awareness is so low that people are missing out on vital funding they are legally entitled to. That’s unacceptable.

“We need far greater public awareness and professional understanding of Continuing Healthcare. Health and social care staff should be trained to identify when someone may qualify, and families should be given clear, accessible information from the start.

“Until that happens, too many people will continue to fall through the cracks — paying for care that the NHS should fund. CHC isn’t a loophole or a luxury; it’s a core part of our healthcare system, and it’s time more people knew about it.”

Express.co.uk contacted NHS England for comment.

Full details about the scheme can be found on the NHS website here. It notes that CHC is for adults.

However, children and young people may receive a “continuing care package” if their needs arising from disability, accident, or illness cannot be met by existing universal or specialist services alone.

To be eligible for NHS CHC, you must be assessed by a team of healthcare professionals (a multidisciplinary team). The team will look at all your care needs and relate them to:

Your eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare depends on your assessed needs, and not on any particular diagnosis or condition. It’s important to note that if your needs change, your eligibility may change.

The NHS guidance reads: “You should be fully involved in the assessment process and kept informed, and have your views about your needs and support taken into account. Carers and family members should also be consulted where appropriate.”

It adds: “A decision about eligibility for a full assessment for NHS continuing healthcare should usually be made within 28 days of an initial assessment or request for a full assessment.”