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The government has seriously underestimated the costs involved in providing free nursing care to older people in nursing homes, according to the Registered Nursing Home Association (RNHA).

A survey by the RNHA shows that nursing costs of some very dependent patients could be as high as £420 a week. But the maximum payment under the new banding scheme would be £110 a week.

Unison has also objected to the plans for funding, describing them as "grossly inadequate", and calling for the banding system to be rejected. The union has written to health minister Jacqui Smith.

Its deputy general secretary, Keith Sonnet, said: "Provision should be based on need and the NHS should meet the full cost of an individual's nursing and health care with no artificial cap on that provision.

"As it stands, nurses may be put in a difficult position of having to determine how much free nursing care a patient will receive."

The union has also criticised the prospect of a two-tier system of long-term care in the UK, which would see older people in Scotland entitled to free provision of services while those in the rest of the UK would have to pay. Sonnet said he could envisage a scenario where "elderly people slip over the border to take advantage of free nursing care they so desperately need".

Concerns have also been raised by the Coalition for Quality in Care, which has criticised a "too-narrow" definition of free nursing that excludes the work of care assistants who perform nursing tasks.

Another worry is that the guidance talks about nursing homes and dual registered homes rather than care homes, which, according to the coalition, ignores the changes to regulations to be introduced under the Care Standards Act 2000.

Meanwhile, the charity Counsel and Care has warned that cost considerations will be placed above older people's choices when it comes to selecting a nursing home.

Spokesperson Paul Martindale said: "Many local authorities already ignore Department of Health directions on choice of accommodation and restrict older people in homes which offer the cheapest fees or with whom the authority has block- booked beds."

He urged the government to ensure older people's rights to choice and control were promoted in the new arrangements.

However, the Department of Health said: "The provision of free nursing care will not affect most older people's choice of homes and the majority of placements will continue to be made by local councils. Only in cases where the homes are unable to match nursing care needs of a person will choice be reduced."

More than 130 organisations contributed to a four-week consultation exercise on free nursing care, which ended last week, and their responses are now being analysed.