NHS Continuing HealthcareShropshire, Telford and Wrekin
NHS Continuing Healthcare in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin
Continuing Healthcare is decided by the NHS, not the council. For Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin, the decision is made by NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board. At 30 June 2026, 24.0 in every 50,000 adults registered with a GP here were eligible for standard Continuing Healthcare, about 28% lower than the England figure of 33.1.
Below: how this area compares, how quickly it decides, who to contact here, and what to do if the answer is no.
Eligible for standard CHC, per 50,000 adults
At 30 June 2026
- Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin
- 24.0
- Midlands region
- 32.0
- England
- 33.1
A count of people receiving it, not anyone's chance of getting it. NHS England figures, published as management information.
How this area compares
How many people get CHC in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin
At 30 June 2026, 209 adults in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin were eligible for standard Continuing Healthcare. That is 24.0 in every 50,000 adults registered with a GP, about 28% lower than the England figure of 33.1 and about 25% lower than the Midlands region figure of 32.0. It was the 28th highest of the 36 ICBs in England.
- This ICB24.0
- Midlands32.0
- England33.1
Fast Track Continuing Healthcare is the quicker route for someone whose condition is deteriorating rapidly and who may be nearing the end of life. At the same date 258 adults here were eligible through Fast Track, 29.6 in every 50,000, about 67% higher than the England figure of 17.7.
The last four quarters, so a single quarter is not read on its own:
| At the end of | This ICB, standard | This ICB, Fast Track | England, standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | 22.9 | 28.5 | 33.3 |
| December 2025 | 22.6 | 26.1 | 33.3 |
| March 2026 | 23.0 | 26.0 | 32.5 |
| June 2026 | 24.0 | 29.6 | 33.1 |
Per 50,000 adults registered with a GP, at the end of each quarter.
How quickly it decides
How long decisions take in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin
Of the 207 standard referrals the ICB completed in April to June 2026, 80% were completed within 28 days, against 67% across England.
At 30 June 2026, 18 standard referrals in this ICB had been open for longer than 28 days, none of them by more than 12 weeks.
Of the 150 full assessments for standard CHC the ICB completed in April to June 2026, 11% found the person eligible, against 18% across England.
The share found eligible depends on who is referred, which varies with how readily local nurses, doctors and social workers complete the checklist, so it is not a measure of your relative's chances. If a decision is taking longer than 28 days, ask the ICB's Continuing Healthcare team for a date. The process sets out each stage and its timescale.
The same everywhere
What does not change from area to area
Every ICB in England applies the same national framework. Some things that families are told vary locally do not:
- Continuing Healthcare is not means-tested. Savings and property do not come into it.
- It pays for care at home, including a live-in carer, as well as a care home place.
- The test is whether the care needed is mainly about health, judged on the nature, intensity, complexity and unpredictability of the needs.
- It starts with a checklist that any nurse, doctor or social worker can complete, followed where needed by a full assessment using the Decision Support Tool.
NHS Continuing Healthcare, explained covers each of these, the twelve areas the assessors score, and how to prepare for the assessment.
What to do next here
Contacting NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin about CHC
What the ICB publishes about Continuing Healthcare in this area. Each card links to the page we checked it against.
The ICB's Continuing Healthcare page
Continuing Healthcare and Individual Commissioning
NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board
The Individual Commissioning (All Age Continuing Care)
Phone: 01952 580349
Email: [email protected]
Other parts of the area may have their own team, listed on the ICB's Continuing Healthcare page.
Asking the ICB to review a decision
If the ICB decides someone is not eligible, the person or their representative should ask for a review in writing. The ICB will then provide an appeal form, which must be completed and returned within 28 days of receipt.
Personal health budgets
The ICB's continuing healthcare information says personal health budgets are generally not offered to people who are Fast Track or where a person is in crisis, because of the time taken to set them up.
Worth knowing
When someone appeals an eligibility decision, the ICB will point them towards Age UK or Beacon for advocacy support.
Worth knowing
Anyone unhappy with a checklist outcome has 28 days from the written notification to ask the ICB to reconsider it.
Worth knowing
The ICB has an NHS Continuing Healthcare Dispute Resolution Policy, which it developed jointly with Shropshire Council and Telford and Wrekin Council.
In most cases the quickest start is to ask your relative's GP, district nurse, hospital ward or social worker to complete the Continuing Healthcare checklist, using that name for it. If your relative is in hospital, ask before a discharge date is set.
If the answer is no
If CHC is refused, or your relative is not eligible
Ask the ICB to review the decision within 6 months of the letter. This first stage is called local resolution. Over the year to June 2026, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin completed 16 local resolution requests, and 12 ended with the person found eligible. That is too few to give a meaningful percentage. Challenging a decision covers local resolution, the independent review panel and the free specialist advice available before you start.
Not being eligible for Continuing Healthcare does not mean paying for everything. The council can assess your relative's care needs and, depending on their savings and income, pay towards care at home, which you can take as a direct payment and use to choose who provides it. If your relative lives in a nursing home, the NHS may still pay a weekly amount towards the nursing part of the fees, called NHS-funded nursing care.
Council funding in the area this ICB covers
If the council is not funding care either, or your family would rather arrange it now while a decision or a review is pending, you can look at self-employed carers near you, see their rates, and talk to them before committing to anything. We do not take part in Continuing Healthcare decisions and cannot make one quicker.
Questions
Questions about Continuing Healthcare in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin
NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board. Continuing Healthcare is an NHS decision, so it is made by the integrated care board, not by the councils in the area. A team of health and care professionals assesses the needs and recommends a decision, and the ICB makes it. The council is still involved in the assessment, and it is the council you go to for care it funds if the answer is no.
The figures cannot tell you that. At 30 June 2026, 24.0 in every 50,000 adults here were eligible for standard Continuing Healthcare, against 33.1 across England. That describes how many people are receiving it, which depends on how old and how unwell the local population is as well as on how decisions are made. Whether your relative qualifies depends only on their needs, assessed against the same national rules as everywhere else.
The national framework expects a decision within 28 days of the checklist in most cases. Of the 207 standard referrals the ICB completed in April to June 2026, 80% were completed within 28 days, against 67% across England. Your relative's case can take more or less time than that.
No. Savings, income and property do not come into it anywhere in England. It depends only on whether the care needed is mainly about health. Who qualifies explains the test.
Yes. It can pay for care at home, including a carer living in, as well as a care home place. Once someone is eligible, the ICB agrees the package and the setting with the family, and a personal health budget can give you more say in how the care is arranged. What it pays for covers the detail.
Ask the ICB to review the decision within 6 months of the letter. That review is called local resolution, and if it upholds the decision you can go to NHS England for an independent review. Meanwhile your relative can ask their council for a needs assessment for care it funds. Challenging a decision covers each stage.
Figures: NHS England, NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) and NHS-funded Nursing Care (FNC), April to June 2026 (published as management information). Rates are per 50,000 adults registered with a GP. NHS England's statistics page. The area covered is from the Office for National Statistics lookup of ICBs to council areas, April 2026. ICB details were read from its published pages and checked against them on 18 September 2026. Covering Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin.
Care at home in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin
See self-employed carers near you with their rates, experience and reviews, and talk to the ones you like for free. Continuing Healthcare decisions are the NHS's alone; nothing here changes them.