Beacon CHC Reviews 

Very helpful advice and advocacy from this company. The lady dealing with our case was diligent, hard working and compassionate. She kept me up to date every step of the way and I really felt she did a wonderful job in preparing and pre planning at the care home and for supporting our case on behalf of my mother. I would highly recommended her and this company to anyone. We don’t get the result we were looking for but so happy we tried.

Whilst we didn't get the outcome we had hoped for we found our Advocate to be great. Really caring about our situation. Through in her approach before the day and a real champion fighting our corner and challenging decisions tin he process. Unfortunately the NHS decision is out of their hands however it has given me a greater understanding of the process - now to the appeals process.

I wanted to thank Beacon CHC especially my caseworker who has supported my appeal for CHC. I was finally deemed eligible after so many rejections (3 previous rejections). Navigating the NHS CHC system can feel like your drowning and not being heard. And this was the first time that I was appealing a decision and using Beacon's services but it was worth it - as we finally got the outcome that we wanted.
The services I used were: Expert Analysis Service, their Appeal Service and then their Continuing Healthcare Assessment Service.
Throughout all these processes, I was given clear advice and support and my case worker met all of the appeal deadlines on time. There was transparent costing - this is really important so I never felt out of depth financially (no hidden costs, everything upfront). I am over the moon at finally being heard and finally having a care package that meets all of my needs and that's thanks to Beacon and my hard working caseworker.

The help and support from Beacon was excellent. They made it possible to deal with the CHC authorities and to reach a favourable outcome

Staff were professional, empathetic and friendly. Kept in touch throughout a long drawn out process. Were knowledgeable.

Thanks to the incredibly detailed guidance and advice from Beacon CHC, we have just managed to win an appeal at the first stage of local resolution - normally unheard of! We were initially told by the NHS, that appeals are seldom won (in other words - don't bother). However, after my father was turned down a second time for funding, I decided to challenge them - but knew I would need help. Stella, our Advocate from Beacon, was utterly professional, empathetic and fastidious in her attention to detail. She gave me the confidence to navigate this tortuous process and was a tower of strength throughout. If you feel overwhelmed by the prospect of taking them on, don't be! Everyone I have ever spoken to at Beacon has given excellent, patient and detailed guidance. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Beacon to anyone trying to get the outcome their deserve.

Used Beacon before and again they were excellent. If you are being assessed by an ICB using the DST Beacon can support you to get a fair outcome. PB.

Hannah was very good and treated my parents with respect and demonstrated empathy and understanding of their situation and my fathers needs.

Hannah provided us with valuable information and we would use Beacons services again if needed.

The person that was allocated to our case had a superb breadth of knowledge regarding Assessments for gaining NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding. She was able to prepare for the assessment the day before by talking with myself, Dementia Health specialists and carers. From her experience and the knowledge of the previous assessment she was able to brief us fully and provided exceptional support for the applicant during the assessment itself without being seen as a threat to those who were in a position to make recommendations. She was undoubtedly a huge asset for us in the position of advocate throughout the assessment process.

Beacon took a lot of stress out of what would otherwise have been a very daunting task tacking a Continued Healthcare Appeal process on our behalf. They were very helpful and produced a detailed and informative report.

My husband was assessed as self funding by the NHS for his stay in a residential Care Home, despite his violent and unpredictable behaviour - for which he had been sectioned. I was recommended to use Beacon to argue the case by a young friend who worked in this sphere in the NHS. He said that Beacon were the only company who were respected ( and feared!) by the Care and Medical decision makers. I would not have won the appeal without them - they were professional, thorough and very supportive of me. Don’t use any other company if you need any help negotiating the minefield of Care appeals.

From beginning to end staff at Beacon were very helpful and compassionate during our appeal against an unfair DST. We decided to go for the full representation as the CHC framework is quite complex and Beacon have the skills and knowledge to navigate through this. Our appeal outcome was positive as a result of a well written and informative case presented by our advocate.
We would like to say thank you again for all your hard work and will not hesitate to use this service again in the future.

My Beacon advocate was very supportive and knowledgeable. I knew I had somebody by my side to make sure that my Mum had a fair CHC assessment, My advocate was truly a back up when you need it most, discussing your loved one at length when they are very ill is not easy. Plus, we are over the first hurdle, and have been granted 3 months funded care.

If your reading this you are probably considering using the services of Beacon CHC. Don't hesitate get in touch with them. They were responsible for overturning a decision made on my partners eligibility for CHC. From first contact the advocate assigned to me was obviously very knowledgeable about the subject and so easy to communicate with. I never once felt like I was dealing with an organization. Their ability to listen and read the situation gave me confidence to appeal the decision and overturn it. I cannot praise them enough for the way our case was handled and should the need arise again I would not hesitate to involve them. Exceptional on all fronts, you won't regret it.

Beacon proved to be such a huge ally in our bids to gain funding for our 98 years old mother for continuing health care. Recommended by the NHS and most definitely NOT in the no win no fee business they provided clear, professional guidance.

When our contact was off for training, the MD stepped in to keep us informed.

It’s hard to explain how closed the ICB and Integrated Discharge Team were to our requests - as if CHC and Nurse Funding no longer existed. For example a question to the ICB, asking who to contact to arrange a checklist assessment and the process, was answered with a single telephone number. Nothing more.

From this shocking start Beacon guided us to a successful checklist and a now ongoing Decision Support Tool.
The appointed advocate, Afia, spent hours in the care home checking records to be fully prepared for the checklist. She kept us fully informed and was so efficient during the discussion. No fighting, just clear and firm presentation of factual record, which made it easy for all to agree a positive outcome.
Unlike no win based companies Beacon advised that we do not need them for the DST meeting thereby foregoing a considerable fee for that service. They couldn’t be more honest and open.

NHS Continuing Heath Care is a minefield with a National Framework of 187 pages as a guidance document. Beacon cut through all this like a knife through butter (or a Beacon through the dark). Always straight. Always explaining their capacity but always there, prepared, timely and accurate.

Our family has good all round levels of intelligence and capability but that quickly allowed us to realise that we needed Beacon’s expertise. It you’re hesitating then please don’t. Use Beacon - they are a wholly owned company of AGE UK, the respected charity working to improve the lot of the elderly. Probity assured.
Thanks Beacon - many thanks.

From the first phone contact to working with my advocate at DST meeting for Continuing health care funding for my mum. I can not fault these guys. They were helpful compassionate have a wealth of knowledge and so professional. They made an ordeal and gruelling process into an acceptable process.

Very welcome professional advice and practical assistance.
Applying for CHC funding is a minefield of obstacles and in some cases blatant obstruction by the commissioning bodies.
If you’re negotiating CHC you need help.

The lady that came to my assistance ,gave me confidence understanding the proses that is a nightmare to follow, and I now feel I’ve done the best for my husbands care,my family feel reassured that we’ve got it right. Thanks.

Beacon were instructed, as our first DST for CHC funding was not completed according to the National Framework and although complaints were made, the decision was to complete a new DST and if it was agreed that eligibility was correct this time that care costs would be back dated to the original DST. The advocate we had from Beacon was brilliant and really supported us as a family and we got a successful outcome.

On their website they (their real name - Ethical Legal Services Ltd) talk about clear and 'affordable' pricing and give a few carefully worded examples to portray how competitive they are. I've checked a few law firms and none of them charge 40%. Secondly, they suggest it would take about 36 hours work (1 week) and cost £7,560 to represent a client who’s been living in a care home for 2 years. It’s impossible to read through a mountain of care records, pick out all the key points and create a well-argued representation, from initial assessment right the way through the entire multi-stage appeal process, let alone all the administration work in just one week. Are you kidding us Beacon? More likely 4 weeks at the very least, so in reality you’re looking at a bill of £30,240 from Beacon which doesn’t make them that competitive. At least with a no-win no fee contract you’re not letting the likes of Beacon write themselves an open cheque. They also claim to have 'helped' more than 40,000 people over more than 10 years in business, yet a check on companies house shows they only started in 2013, less than 10 years ago, so they're not being honest. Equally if they have recovered more than £10m then it only works out to be about £250 per person (40,000/10m) - none of these figures make sense so Beacon seems to be good on spin yet fails when their claims are analysed.