Does the introduction of the single-band NHS-funded nursing care mean that care home fees will increase for people moving from low or medium band RNCC to single-band NHS-funded nursing care?
Answer The fundamental issue here is about how the care home fee is shared between the NHS, the local authority and the individual concerned and how the breakdown of fees for accommodation, nursing and personal care are reflected in the contract governing a given individual’s placement in the care home. The introduction of NHS-funded nursing care was a new system to enable the NHS to contribute towards the cost of registered nursing in a care home. It was not, and was never intended to be, a re-assessment of the individual’s need for registered nursing care. All that happened was that the NHS adopted a simpler method for establishing what its share towards the total fee will be. The same principles apply to the introduction of the single band payment. The new single band rate was based upon the weighted average of all existing NHS-funded nursing care payments (low, medium and high) being paid at that time. The Department therefore does not consider that there is an acceptable case for
