NHS Continuing HealthcareThames Valley
NHS Continuing Healthcare in Thames Valley
Continuing Healthcare is decided by the NHS, not the council. For Bracknell Forest, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham, the decision is made by NHS Thames Valley Integrated Care Board. At 30 June 2026, 26.1 in every 50,000 adults registered with a GP here were eligible for standard Continuing Healthcare, about 21% 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
- Thames Valley
- 26.1
- 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 Thames Valley
At 30 June 2026, 1,042 adults in Thames Valley were eligible for standard Continuing Healthcare. That is 26.1 in every 50,000 adults registered with a GP, about 21% lower than the England figure of 33.1 and about 11% lower than the South East region figure of 29.1. It was the 25th highest of the 36 ICBs in England.
- This ICB26.1
- 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 517 adults here were eligible through Fast Track, 12.9 in every 50,000, about 27% lower 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 | 25.4 | 11.1 | 33.3 |
| December 2025 | 26.0 | 12.6 | 33.3 |
| March 2026 | 26.2 | 12.1 | 32.5 |
| June 2026 | 26.1 | 12.9 | 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 Thames Valley
Of the 525 standard referrals the ICB completed in April to June 2026, 53% were completed within 28 days, against 67% across England.
At 30 June 2026, 83 standard referrals in this ICB had been open for longer than 28 days, 12 of them by more than 12 weeks.
Of the 458 full assessments for standard CHC the ICB completed in April to June 2026, 16% 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 Thames Valley 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 - NHS Thames Valley
NHS Thames Valley Integrated Care Board
The Oxfordshire adults continuing healthcare team
Phone: 0118 982 2900
Other parts of the area may have their own team, listed on the ICB's Continuing Healthcare page.
Asking for an assessment here
A referral is made to the continuing healthcare team for the person's own area, and the referral form has to be obtained from that team using the area contact details on the ICB page, with separate teams for East Berkshire, Berkshire West, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
Worth knowing
Families in the East Berkshire part of the ICB use a separate continuing healthcare team based at King Edward VII Hospital, St. Leonards Rd, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 3DP, on 0300 304 9200.
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, Thames Valley completed 77 local resolution requests, and 17 of them (22%) 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 Thames Valley
NHS Thames Valley 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, 26.1 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 525 standard referrals the ICB completed in April to June 2026, 53% 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 Bracknell Forest, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham.
Care at home in Thames Valley
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.