Nursing homes' long wait for rate ends this month, says Government

Nursing homes across England have faced over three months of uncertainty about how much the new Funded Nursing Care (FNC) rate they receive from the NHS will be, but today the Department of Health said it will announce the rate by the end of July.

Homes across the country, who expected the rate to be announced in April, were left with a lack of clarity from the Government that left them struggling to budget or reconcile their accounts.

The Department of Health determines the contribution, which is a weekly flat rate payment made by the NHS directly to a care home towards the cost of nursing care provided by a registered nurse. FNC is only provided if someone needs nursing care and is staying in a care home that can provide nursing care.

Michael Vaughan, the owner of Red Rocks Nursing Home in Wirrel, said: “Historically the rate has gone up by about a £1. Normally, they would tell us before April and apply it in April. The delay has caused us some admin issues.”

NHS-funded nursing care is paid at the same rate across England. For 2015/16, the standard rate is £112.00 a week.

Martin Green, CEO of Care England said: “In spite of a review having been delivered to the Department of Health and conducted to a very tight timescale that providers had to meet for the provision of information, the Department of Health has still not decided on the rate for this year.

He spoke of “homes who cannot reconcile accounts, plan for future budgeting or inform their residents of the money they will be allocated to help meet nursing bills."

At a loss to understand the delay

This situation in England was not, however, replicated in Wales, where homes have been notified.

Martin Green added: “We are at a loss to understand the delay and it is symptomatic of residents and care home providers simply not getting the priority they deserve in our health and care system.

"In the current financial environment, social care providers are working hard to deliver the best services to older and frail people and the Department of Health should not be making this job any more difficult.”

Speaking on 7 July, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health told carehome.co.uk, the wait for nursing homes would soon be over because the new 2016/17 rate will be ‘announced by the end of July’.

The spokeswoman said the Department had decided to hire a consultant to determine whether or not this year’s rate should be cut or increased and this had led to the delay.

Referendum purdah created a backlog

She also said the EU referendum was partly to blame for the delay in the new rate’s announcement, since a four-week ‘purdah’ imposed prior to the EU referendum’s 23 June polling day, placed a halt on any policy announcements that may influence the outcome of the EU referendum.

She said: "We couldn't put anything out during that time, that could influence it."