NHS Continuing HealthcareSurrey and Sussex
NHS Continuing Healthcare in Surrey and Sussex
Continuing Healthcare is decided by the NHS, not the council. For Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, Surrey and West Sussex, the decision is made by NHS Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Board. At 30 June 2026, 22.8 in every 50,000 adults registered with a GP here were eligible for standard Continuing Healthcare, about 31% 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
- Surrey and Sussex
- 22.8
- South East region
- 29.1
- 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 Surrey and Sussex
At 30 June 2026, 1,167 adults in Surrey and Sussex were eligible for standard Continuing Healthcare. That is 22.8 in every 50,000 adults registered with a GP, about 31% lower than the England figure of 33.1 and about 22% lower than the South East region figure of 29.1. It was the 29th highest of the 36 ICBs in England.
- This ICB22.8
- South East29.1
- 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 997 adults here were eligible through Fast Track, 19.5 in every 50,000, about 10% 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 | 25.2 | 17.2 | 33.3 |
| December 2025 | 24.7 | 17.3 | 33.3 |
| March 2026 | 24.1 | 17.9 | 32.5 |
| June 2026 | 22.8 | 19.5 | 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 Surrey and Sussex
Of the 925 standard referrals the ICB completed in April to June 2026, 62% were completed within 28 days, against 67% across England.
At 30 June 2026, 131 standard referrals in this ICB had been open for longer than 28 days, 2 of them by more than 12 weeks.
Of the 781 full assessments for standard CHC the ICB completed in April to June 2026, 7% 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 Surrey and Sussex 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
NHS Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Board
Asking for an assessment here
In the Surrey part of the ICB, a patient or their representative can make a referral by telephone call, email or letter. This will usually result in the completion of a checklist by the All-Age Continuing Healthcare Team.
Care at home: CHC Choice and Equity Policy
The policy says the ICB does not have to commission a home care package if it is more expensive than providing care in a residential setting, although it will support a wish to be cared for at home wherever possible. Home care packages that cost more than a preferred care home placement would be carefully considered, with a risk assessment undertaken.
Personal health budgets
In the Surrey part of the ICB, anyone interested in a personal health budget after being found eligible can contact the All Age Continuing Care team, which will arrange for a case manager to make contact, and there is a dedicated CHC personal health budget email and telephone line.
Worth knowing
Families in the Surrey part of the ICB deal with the NHS Surrey All-Age Continuing Care team, which is based at Horizon House in Epsom and can be reached on 0300 561 1444.
Worth knowing
In the Sussex area you can ask the All-Age Continuing Care team to look again at a checklist decision not to go on to full assessment, which the ICB calls a checklist challenge and usually completes within three months.
Worth knowing
For the Surrey area the ICB publishes that local resolution meetings on appeals are currently being held within two months of the request.
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, Surrey and Sussex completed 149 local resolution requests, and 13 of them (9%) ended with the person found eligible. 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 Surrey and Sussex
NHS Surrey and Sussex 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, 22.8 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 925 standard referrals the ICB completed in April to June 2026, 62% 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.
Continuing Healthcare in other ICBs in the South East region
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 Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, Surrey and West Sussex.
Care at home in Surrey and Sussex
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.