Evidence guides
NHS Continuing Healthcare Evidence Guides
Evidence in an NHS Continuing Healthcare case may include assessment documents, care records kept where care is delivered, clinical records and correspondence. Which of those matter depends entirely on the individual case and the needs being considered — there is no standard bundle and no required number of documents.
These guides are grouped by what you are trying to do: gather records, understand the documents the process produces, read a decision and the evidence behind it, or understand how needs are described across the care domains.
They are written to be factual and to point at official guidance where a factual claim is made. None of them assesses eligibility, suggests Decision Support Tool levels, or gives legal or medical advice.
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Start with the Free CHC Evidence Checklist
Twenty-four document categories, each with a short explanation of why it may be useful, what it may contain and where you might obtain it. Tick what you already hold to see which other categories you may want to consider. Nothing you tick is saved or sent anywhere.
Preparing evidence
Working out which records exist, which of them may be relevant, and how to gather them before an assessment or review.
- What evidence is useful for a CHC assessment?The types of record that commonly describe day-to-day needs, and how to ask for copies.Read
- Free CHC Evidence ChecklistA free, no-login checklist of 24 document categories, with an explanation of each.Read
- How an NHS CHC assessment worksThe stages of the process, who is involved and what happens at each point.Read
Understanding CHC assessment documents
The documents the NHS Continuing Healthcare process produces, and what each of them records.
- The CHC Checklist explainedWhat the screening stage records and what its outcome does and does not mean.Read
- The Decision Support Tool explainedHow the DST is structured, what the domain narratives contain and who records the levels.Read
- NHS Continuing Healthcare: the full guideThe overview page: what CHC is, how it is decided and where the framework sits.Read
Reviewing evidence
Reading a decision, checking it against the records that were available, and organising evidence for a review.
- Reviewing a CHC decisionWhat happens after a decision, and the routes available if you want it looked at again.Read
- Assessment comparison in CHC GuardHow an assessment narrative can be set beside the evidence for the same care domain.Read
- The Evidence AuditWhat a structured, source-referenced record of an evidence set contains.Read
Understanding needs and evidence
How needs are described across the care domains, and how records evidence those descriptions.
- The 12 NHS Continuing Healthcare care domainsEach domain described factually, with the records that commonly relate to it.Read
- Evidence analysisHow dated evidence is extracted from records with a citation to its source page.Read
- Evidence timelineHow duplicate entries are grouped and events ordered chronologically across a whole pack.Read
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Existing CHC resources
Every NHS Continuing Healthcare guide currently on this site, in one list.
- NHS Continuing HealthcareThe main guide.Read
- CHC ChecklistThe screening stage.Read
- Decision Support ToolThe full assessment document.Read
- CHC evidenceWhat evidence is useful, and why.Read
- CHC assessment processHow the process runs.Read
- Reviewing a decisionAfter a decision is made.Read
- The 12 CHC domainsEach care domain in turn.Read
More guides are being added
This hub is being extended with deeper evidence guides over time, including preparing for a DST meeting, how the Checklist and the DST differ, reading a decision letter, organising evidence for a review or challenge, and how well-managed needs and the four characteristics — nature, intensity, complexity and unpredictability — are described in the National Framework. Only guides that are published appear above, so nothing here links to a page that does not exist yet.
Last reviewed: June 2026. CHC Guard editorial content, checked against official NHS and GOV.UK guidance for England. It is general information, not advice about an individual case.
CHC Guard is an independent software service and is not affiliated with the NHS, NHS England, Integrated Care Boards or the UK Government.