Increase in the level of NHS funded nursing care announced

Stephen Ladyman has announced that care home residents will
benefit from an increase in the level of NHS funded nursing care,
writes Clare Jerrom.

Ladyman

Primary care trusts fund nursing care which is paid to care
homes, based on the level of an individual’s needs and the
funding is divided into three bands.

The high band will increase by four pounds to £129 per week
from April next year. The medium band will rise from £77.50 to
£80 per week and the low band will remain at £40 per
week.

The health minister said that when the scheme was announced in
October 2001, the government made a commitment to reassessing the
bands of nursing care, and the assessment had led to the
increases.

“In the New Year we will be working with Strategic Health
Authority’s and other stakeholders to draft a new national
framework for the assessment for fully funded NHS continuing
care,” said Ladyman.

“As part of this work, we will also be looking at the way
NHS-funded nursing care is being implemented,” he added.

Further information from www.dh.gov.uk