Before any NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment can take place, the referring professional must discuss the process with you and a CHC Consent Form must also be completed.
This is really important as it ensures that the individual and/or their family fully understands and agrees to the CHC process as well as agreeing to the sharing of personal information with relevant health and social care professionals as required.
In Hampshire there are two different consent forms, one for individuals who are able to consent for themselves and one for individuals who need a representative to provide consent on their behalf:
Who Can Complete the Consent Form?
The referring professional will explain each section of the consent form carefully, if the individual being referred to CHC has capacity to fully understand and agree to the CHC process and information sharing they are able to sign the consent form.
If the individual has capacity, but is unable to physically sign due to their health condition, a representative is able to sign on their behalf with a written explanation.
What happens if the individual is unable to sign for themselves?
If the individual lacks the capacity to fully understand the CHC process and agree to the assessment taking place, a family member with Power Of Attorney for Health and Welfare is able to sign the consent form on their behalf. The referring professional will need to see the Power of Attorney documentation to confirm the representative is able to sign.
Please do not worry if a POA is required but not in place as the responsible professional can also complete a mental capacity assessment and sign the consent form as a ‘Best Interests’ decision.
The mental capacity assessment will identify whether your family member is unable to consent for themselves. A professional will then be able to sign the consent form on their behalf or in their ‘Best Interests’