NHS-funded nursing care rate for 2016 to 2017
The NHS contribution towards the costs of a place in a care home with nursing is being increased on an interim basis to £156.25.
The rates for eligible care home residents assessed to require the help of a registered nurse will be as follows:
- standard rate will be increased to £156.25 per week
- higher rate will be increased to £215.04 per week (this is only relevant for those people who were already on the higher rate in 2007 when the single band was introduced)
Registered nursing care for eligible nursing home residents is funded by the NHS and the weekly rate per patient is currently set at £112.
The increase follows an independent review of the rate paid by the NHS to nursing homes (known as NHS-funded nursing care). The review, carried out by Mazars LLP, recommends that the NHS-funded nursing care rate should increase by 40% to £156.25.
The government accepts the recommendation, which means that clinical commissioning groups will now pay a national rate of £156.25. The increase will be backdated to 1 April 2016 for individuals who were in receipt of NHS-funded nursing care from that time.
The new rate is being paid on an interim basis while further work is done to review the element of the rate for agency nursing staff (which could lead to a reduction to the rate from 1 January 2017) and to consult on introducing regional variation from April 2017.
These rates are based on the best evidence currently available to the Department of Health.