The joint letter, whose signatories include Dementia UK, 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.'
Research by The King's Fund in June found almost a third (30%) more people are being found to be no longer eligible for Fast Track NHS CHC packages.
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.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Minister Alison McGovern, said: ‘On continuing healthcare, there are a number of ways in which, as was the case under the previous Government, the interface between NHS funding and social care funding really matters—not least the Better Care Fund and continuing healthcare. We continue to look at those, and I will happily discuss them. There are improvements we can make in the short term that will help, even as we wait for the Casey review next summer.'
The DHSC said it recognised concerns raised by Dementia UK about the experience of people with dementia navigating CHC.
It said its move to the All Age Continuing Care Data Set, including the publication of new data in October, represented an important part of its response to the wider challenge of understanding and addressing variation in CHC.
The DHSC said NHS England continued to monitor eligibility rates by comparing ICBs with similar demographics that compare eligibility and referral rates and investigate outliers for drivers of unwarranted variation.
A spokesperson added: ‘In the short term, we are driving progress on Baroness Casey's early recommendations for immediate action to improve dementia care through our Modern Service Framework and the National Dementia Tsar, fast-tracking care for motor neurone disease and establishing an adult safeguarding board to hold the system accountable.'
