Facts: Ms Grogan required regular supervision by a registered nurse and other nursing care services but was refused NHS continuing healthcare on the ground that the local authority was required to provide her with residential accommodation, whilst the NHS would provide ancillary nursing care, as required by section 49 of the Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) 2001.

Judgment: Charles J held that the Secretary of State for Health’s guidance, and the local eligibility criteria for NHS continuing healthcare, were unlawful in that they suggested that a person would not qualify for NHS continuing healthcare where their healthcare needs could be met by a RNCC (registered nursing care contribution) under the HSCA 2001, including under a medium or high band, unless they had other healthcare needs that caused them to qualify. It was necessary to determine, first of all, whether a person’s need for healthcare, in the round, entitled them to NHS continuing healthcare (because their primary need was for healthcare); only if not, did the RNCC become relevant.