14 charities call for urgent action to fix NHS continuing healthcare funding
20th October 2026
Over 26,000 back petition to fix flaws in NHS continuing healthcare that leave families fighting for funding and struggling to pay care bills.
Fourteen health and care charities are calling on the Government to launch a full, independent review of NHS continuing healthcare (CHC), warning that families facing complex health needs are being left to navigate a distressing and inconsistent system.
A petition signed by 26,451 people has been delivered to the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside a letter urging Health and Social Care Secretary Yvette Cooper to commit to a review and to publish a clear timetable for its completion.
The charities say action must begin now, alongside the development of the Government’s proposed National Care Service stressing that people who need care today cannot wait for long-term reform.
CHC is a package of care that is arranged and fully funded by the NHS for adults assessed as having complex long-term health needs. This can be delivered at home or within a care home. But the charities warn that flaws in how needs are assessed and how decisions are made leave families fighting for funding whilst facing substantial care bills
Trish, whose husband Mike is living with young onset dementia and has had his application for CHC rejected, said:
“We applied for NHS continuing healthcare funding to help with my husband Mike’s care fees. He now needs specialist nursing care every day. The process is exhausting and emotionally draining. We felt like we had to prove over and over just how severe Mike’s condition is. When we were told Mike didn’t qualify for CHC, this was one of the most distressing moments of our dementia journey so far. We’re now watching Mike’s hard-earned savings that he worked all his life for disappear to pay for his care. No family should have to fight this hard.”
Independent analysis conducted by the Nuffield Trust found that the number of people eligible for CHC has fallen over time, with significant variation across England that cannot be fully explained by differences in local populations. Its report describes families facing a challenging assessment process and potentially catastrophic care costs when funding is refused.
Baroness Louise Casey, who chairs the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care, described the current CHC system as “astonishing” and “inexplicable” in a speech at the Nuffield Trust Summit in March 2026.
The charities welcome the Government’s commitment to establish a National Care Service in the next Parliament, but say improving access to existing NHS funding is an urgent test of its ambition to fix care.
Their joint letter states:
“We urge the Government to commit to a full and independent review of NHS continuing healthcare and publish a clear timetable for its completion. This must begin now, alongside the development of the National Care Service.”
The petition is backed by Dementia UK, British Polio Fellowship, Carers Trust, Carers UK, Dementia Carers Count, Huntington’s Disease Association, Lewy Body Society, Pathfinders Neuromuscular Alliance, MS Society, Muscular Dystrophy UK, Neurological Alliance, Parkinson’s UK, Spinal Injuries Association and TIDE – Together in Dementia Everyday.
Press release supplied by Dementia UK