Wirral All Age Continuing Care Team (AACC)

Any child or young person up to their 18th birthday who has a complex health need may be eligible. Their eligibility will change as their needs change.

You can discuss their eligibility with the doctors or nurses involved in their care. A health or social care professional can refer a child for an assessment.

The Integrated All Age Continuing Care Team will decide if an assessment is needed.

A Health Assessor will collect evidence of your child’s needs.

It is likely that a lot of different organisations or professionals will be part of this. This may be health, education, and local authority children’s services. They may all provide part of a child’s package of care if they have continuing care needs.

The professionals will usually talk about this with the child or young person. If help is needed to understand this, it can be discussed with family or someone else close to the person. We will agree the best way of managing it. This may include offering a child or young person a Personal Health Budget (PHB).

The process we use is 'the National Framework for Children and Young People’s Continuing care' . This is by the Department of Health (2016).

You can read and download this document here

It is important for you to know that the assessment is about ‘needs’. Each person is different. The assessment is not based on diagnosis.

If it is agreed that a child or young person needs continuing care a package of care will be agreed.

The assessments will be by a team of health and social care professionals. This is against a set criteria.  This will include:

• what help you need

• how complex your needs are?

• how intense your needs can be?

• how unpredictable your needs are.

This also includes the risks to your health if the right care was not provided at the right time.

If you are eligible depends on your assessed needs and not on any diagnosis or condition you have.

It can appear to be a complex and sensitive process. It can affect people at a very uncertain stage of their lives. Your local CHC team will involve you, your family, and your carers in your assessment. If you are not able to decide about your care on your own, your representative can help by acting on your behalf.

For most people there is an initial checklist assessment. This is a document used to see who may need a full assessment for NHS Continuing Healthcare. The checklist will not show whether they are eligible. It will only show if there should be a full assessment.

The CHC team will arrange a full assessment if one is needed. A multidisciplinary team will carry out an assessment of your needs.

Whether you are eligible or not will depend on your assessed needs. It does not depend on any diagnosis or condition. The decision should happen within 28 days from the first request or assessment.

The person’s wishes and views will be taken into account. Then a recommendation is made. This is sent to your local NHS commissioners for a decision about funding.

Eligibility for CHC might change if a person’s needs change.

Sometimes someone needs care arranging quickly.

This might be because they are deteriorating rapidly. They may be entering the terminal phase of their illness.

If an urgent package of care is needed, then a fast track tool can be used.

The local CHC team will process this and arrange a package of care as soon as possible.