What is a DST? (Decision Support Tool)

What happens at the Decision Support Tool assessment?

The decision support tool is the full assessment which is used to examine whether a person’s needs are primarily healthcare needs and are likely to be eligible for NHS continuing healthcare funding. 

Assessors organise and record the evidence about the person’s individual care needs into 12 ‘domains’.  

These are:

• Behaviour (e.g. aggression or lack of inhibition)
• Cognition (e.g. confusion, long or short-term memory loss)
• Psychological and emotional needs (e.g. hallucinations, depression or anxiety)
• Communication (e.g. are they physically able to talk? Visual aids, body language)
• Mobility (e.g. risk of falls, inability to bear their own weight)
• Nutrition – food and drink (e.g. difficulty swallowing)
• Continence – continent or incontinent – urinary tract infections/catheter
• Skin and tissue viability (e.g. pressure sores)
• Breathing (e.g. emphysema or chest infection)
• Drug therapies and medication – (e.g. Side effects, refusal, pain)
• Altered states of consciousness (e.g. coma, strokes or fits)
• Other significant care needs – This domain looks at any other needs that do not fit into any of the domains above (e.g. a person suffering from cancer or significant sleeping difficulties)

The Decision Support Tool assesses the level of need required within the domains listed above. There are six levels of need:

• No needs
• Low 
• Moderate
• High
• Severe
• Priority

Consideration is then given to the nature, intensity, complexity and unpredictability of a need.

The multi-disciplinary team will allocate a level of need to each care domain to determine if the individual has a ‘primary health need’ and then make a recommendation to the Integrated Care Board (ICB) as to whether the person should be entitled to NHS continuing healthcare funding.

Are you prepared for your DST?

We understand that the continuing healthcare process can seem daunting, overwhelming and complex. Still, we cannot stress enough how important it is to be well prepared for your continuing healthcare full assessment.  Click here for our top tips on how to prepare!

How can Moore and Tibbits help?

At Moore & Tibbits, our team has specialist lawyers with years of in-depth knowledge of NHS continuing healthcare and all issues relating to paying for care.  We also have a nurse who is our clinical advisor, Judy Timson RGN, whose expertise ensures we are able to understand the complexities of each case.

We help clients with the following:

• The assessment process
• Eligibility for continuing healthcare
• Appeals of decisions
• Challenges
• Annual Reviews
• Retrospective Applications

For a free initial telephone discussion, please telephone Judy Timson at 01926 354704.