Fast track continuing healthcare

For someone whose condition is rapidly deteriorating and may be entering a terminal phase, there is a fast route to NHS continuing healthcare, without the checklist or the full assessment.

Who decides

• An "appropriate clinician": a registered nurse or doctor responsible for the person's diagnosis, treatment or care. That can include clinicians in hospices and other voluntary or independent organisations.
• The clinician completes the Fast Track Pathway Tool. That form is enough on its own to establish eligibility.
• The NHS area must then accept that the person is eligible, and should respond promptly so that funding and care are in place without delay.

What "rapidly deteriorating" means

The guidance says it should not be read narrowly. Strict time limits based on expected length of life should not be imposed, and "may be entering a terminal phase" is not limited to situations where death is imminent.

What to do

• Ask the nurse or doctor caring for your relative whether the fast track applies.
• If it does, ask them to complete the tool and send it to the NHS area straight away.
• Fast track care can be reviewed later if needs change.

Nearly all fast track referrals are accepted. Most refusals come through the standard route: see how to appeal.

Source

• Fast Track Pathway Tool and guidance, paragraphs 2 to 7 and 13