Continuing NHS Healthcare and adults
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Briefing by Luke Clements ~ updated February 2020. For corrections or suggested additions please contact anjames57@gmail.com.
The briefing note (below) is scheduled to be updated to address the reforms resulting from the Health and Social Care (Wales) Act 2025. The Act (section 23 – 25) provides for the making of Direct Payments for individuals eligible for ‘Continuing NHS Healthcare funding (individuals whose healthcare needs are such that councils are unable to meet their needs by virtue of section 47(1) of the 2914 Act). In addition section 26 of the 2025 Act amends section 47(1) of the 2014 Act to bring it into line with the English Care Act 2014 section 22 – to make explicit that councils may not meet a person’s needs for care and support (including a carer’s needs for support) if this involves providing (or arranging for the provision of) support that an NHS Local Health Board is obliged to provide, unless that support is – not only ‘incidental or ancillary’ to support that the council would ordinarily be expected to provide under the SSWBA 2014 but is also ‘of a nature’ that council would expected to provide.
The nature and scope of the scheme is detailed in the National Health Service (Direct Payments) (Wales) Regulations 2026. The regulators, as they apply to adults, came into force April 2026. The provisions relating to children are scheduled to come into force on 1 October 2027. Guidance on the scheme is provided by the ‘Direct payments for Continuing NHS healthcare Guidance‘ (2026).
The current guidance concerning Continuing NHS Healthcare in Wales is the Welsh Government Continuing NHS Healthcare. The National Framework for Implementation in Wales (2022). For a brief critical analysis of this document- see The end game: Continuing NHS Healthcare (CHC) in Wales (Rhydian 9 March 2022).