Free Information & Advice Service

Contact our Information and Advice Service for general advice and to book a consultation of up to 90 minutes of free advice with a specialist adviser.

Our trained staff can answer your questions on any aspect of NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) in England. We have helped thousands of people to understand the eligibility criteria, navigate the assessment process, understand the Decision Support Tool, review a decision, or begin an appeal. We can also offer guidance on funding policies and issues in your area.

This advice is usually provided on the phone, but we can also arrange video calls using Microsoft Teams.

As part of your booked 90-minute consultation, your Beacon adviser will be able to:

• Provide in-depth and detailed advice on your CHC matter and current situation
• Review any relevant documents prior to and/or during the consultation
• Recommend your next steps

You can spread your 90 minutes of free advice across more than one consultation.

Read our Consultation Guide to find out what to expect from your consultation and how to prepare.

Call now to speak to a trained adviser:

0345 548 0300

Please call and leave a voicemail with your name and phone number, and we will ring you back as soon as possible.

Alternatively, complete our Contact Form, and we’ll get back to you via email or phone. 

Please be aware that demand for our free advice service is currently extremely high which means that waiting times and response times are longer than usual. We are doing all we can to manage the significant increase in demand and thank you for your patience. If you can’t get through to us on the phone, please leave your details in a voicemail and we will call you back as soon as possible. We respond to every call we receive.

Please note: this service is funded by NHS England, and is available for people whose CHC assessment or appeal is managed by an Integrated Care Board (or a third party) in England.

This service is intended for members of the public in England. If you are looking for support or training for your staff or organisation, please visit our Professional Training page.

Free Navigational Toolkit

Our free Navigational Toolkit has been written by our expert caseworkers and is an essential reference for anyone navigating NHS Continuing Healthcare. It explains the system in detail, how to navigate each stage, and the pitfalls to look out for.

To access the Toolkit, enter your details on the right-hand side of this page and click ‘Register’. You will be directed automatically to a webpage with links to download the documents.

The Toolkit contains four documents:

• How We Can Help
• Guide to Continuing Healthcare Assessments
• Guide to Continuing Healthcare Appeals
• Continuing Healthcare Legal Background

Further Resources

You can also keep up to date with the latest national CHC News, and follow our online Blog for important information and updates on NHS Continuing Healthcare.

Click here to explore our FAQs which is a valuable repository of CHC information.

Information & Advice Service feedback

We are so proud that over the years that we have been running this service, our team has regularly received unsolicited feedback and testimonials for the quality of the advice they have provided.

Click here to browse a small sample of this feedback.

Our commitment to you

The Information & Advice Service and Navigational Toolkit are funded by NHS England, but our expert advice is proudly independent.

At Beacon we also provide chargeable casework and representation services, but this is kept entirely separate from the free advice service. When you call, we will not try to sell you anything and we will only refer you to information about our paid-for services if you ask us to.

Read more about our commitment to independence.