Mock NHS Continuing Healthcare DST
See how your relative’s care needs might look across the 12 CHC care domains — in around 10 minutes.
Could your relative have a Primary Health Need?
If you’ve been told that your relative may need an assessment for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC), understanding the Decision Support Tool can be difficult.
The Carentis Mock DST gives you a quick way to work through the broad areas of care considered during the CHC process.
What you’ll get from this tool
- An indicative profile across the 12 CHC care domains
- An indication of areas where significant needs may exist
- A simple check of nature, intensity, complexity and unpredictability
- Identification of areas where you may need stronger evidence
- Relevant Carentis guidance based on your answers
Important: this is not an NHS assessment
The Carentis Mock DST is an educational simulation. It does not determine whether someone is eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare and does not replace an NHS assessment or Decision Support Tool.
Complete the Mock DST
Answer honestly based on what happens in your relative’s everyday care.
Mock NHS Continuing Healthcare DST
Understand your relative's care needs across the 12 CHC care domains.
How might your relative's needs look on a CHC Decision Support Tool?
This quick simulation takes you through the 12 NHS Continuing Healthcare care domains and gives you an indicative profile of the needs you describe.
For each domain, answer a few simple questions. You do not need to upload records or provide detailed evidence during the assessment.
One final check
The real CHC decision does not simply add up domain levels. The overall picture includes the nature, intensity, complexity and unpredictability of the person's needs.
Your initial result
You've completed all 12 care domains and the four key characteristics.
Get your full CHC Meeting Prep Sheet
Your full result includes your domain-by-domain profile, evidence gaps, the four key characteristics and practical questions to consider before a CHC discussion.
Why your email? We'll send you a copy of the completed results so you can keep them and refer back to them.
We'll use this address to send the results you requested. We won't add you to a marketing list through this tool.
Your indicative CHC profile
The results below reflect the answers you gave. They are not an NHS assessment or a prediction of eligibility.
What stands out
Your CHC Meeting Prep Sheet
Use this to prepare factual questions and make sure the person's actual day-to-day needs are clearly understood.
Evidence gaps to consider
Carentis resources that may help
Based on the areas you identified, these Carentis guides and resources may be useful next.
Keep a copy of your results
Print your full Meeting Prep Sheet or choose Save as PDF.
Results emailed
A copy of your full results has been sent to your email address.
What is the CHC Decision Support Tool?
The Decision Support Tool, usually called the DST, is used during the NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment process.
It helps the multidisciplinary team record and consider a person’s health and care needs across 12 different domains.
The domains should not simply be added together. The overall picture of the person’s needs is important.
Four characteristics matter too
CHC isn’t simply about how many domains have a high level of need.
Nature
What type of health need is present?
Intensity
How much care is required?
Complexity
How do the different needs interact?
Unpredictability
How likely are needs to change?
What should you do with your result?
Think of your result as a starting point for preparation, not an answer to the question of whether your relative will receive CHC funding.
Look closer
Identify the domains where significant needs may need further exploration.
Check the evidence
Look at care records, assessments and professional documentation.
Prepare for discussion
Use the information to prepare questions before the real assessment.
Evidence matters
One of the most useful things you can do before a CHC assessment is understand what is actually happening in your relative’s day-to-day care.
Depending on the person’s needs, useful evidence may include:
Want to understand CHC properly?
The Mock DST gives you a starting point. Our complete guide takes you much further, explaining the CHC process, assessments, the DST, evidence and what families need to know.
Get the Complete CHC Guide →Need to talk through your situation?
Sometimes you don’t need another article. You need to talk through what’s happening with someone who understands the CHC process.
A Carentis CHC Guidance Call gives you the opportunity to discuss your circumstances and consider what you may need to do next.
Book a CHC Guidance Call →More Carentis CHC resources
Carentis Mock DST is an educational information tool. It does not provide medical, legal or financial advice and does not determine eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare. The actual CHC process is undertaken by the NHS.