NHS CHC reviews

What happens at an NHS Continuing Healthcare 12-month review?

What the NHS CHC framework says about annual reviews, what they should focus on, and how families can prepare accurate evidence without assuming eligibility will be reassessed.

Updated 26 August 2026

Scope: General information for England. This guide does not determine eligibility, replace the relevant NHS or Local Authority process, or provide individual legal or clinical advice.

The review timetable

After someone is found eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare, the national framework says there should be a review within three months of the eligibility decision. Further reviews should then take place at least annually, although clinical circumstances can justify more frequent review.

A review is not automatically a fresh eligibility assessment

The guiding purpose of the review is to check whether the existing care plan and arrangements remain appropriate to meet the person's needs. The framework says that, in the majority of cases, there should be no need to reassess eligibility.

If needs have changed significantly, however, the ICB may decide that a fresh eligibility assessment is appropriate. Families should ask whether the meeting is a care-package review or a formal reconsideration of CHC eligibility so that everyone understands the purpose of the process.

What to prepare

  • The current care plan and any changes since the last review.
  • A short chronology of hospital admissions, infections, falls, behavioural incidents, seizures or other relevant changes.
  • Medication and treatment changes that materially affect care needs.
  • Evidence of the amount, frequency and skill level of support actually required.
  • Questions about parts of the current package that are no longer working or are creating risk.

During the review

Keep the discussion factual and current. CHC is based on the totality of relevant needs, not on a diagnosis alone. If the family disagrees with how needs are being recorded, ask for that disagreement and the supporting evidence to be noted rather than relying only on a verbal objection.