Last Updated on March 11, 2024
The Government has confirmed that it will increase the rate of NHS-funded nursing care by 7.4% for 2024 to 2025.
The standard weekly rate per person provided for NHS-funded nursing care will increase by 7.4% from £219.71 to £235.88 from 1 April 2024, with funding paid by the NHS directly to care homes who provide nursing care. For the higher rate, it will increase from £302.25 to £324.50. This allows eligible care home residents with specific nursing needs to benefit from NHS-funded nursing care.
Registered nurses provide support to people eligible for NHS-funded nursing care with a variety of needs, including people with learning disabilities, those living with enduring physical or mental health needs and various conditions associated with old age. This type of nursing requires a range of skills and training, with the extra funding supporting this important role.
The NHS-funded nursing care rate helps cover the costs of nursing care, ensuring the vital provision can continue to support the needs of residents within nursing homes. The uplift for the 2024 to 2025 financial year is based on adult social care data which is quality assured and independently verified, and cost collection data submitted by adult social care providers which has been quality assured.
Providing this nursing care also helps reduce the pressure on hospitals, ensuring the government’s record funding can be used to help discharge medically fit patients into social care settings. This care eases pressure on the NHS and delivers on the government’s plan to cut waiting lists.
In response to the announcement, Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive at Care England, said, 'Care England has worked tirelessly with the Department of Health and Social Care over nine years to ensure that the NHS-funded nursing care rate reflects the true cost of providing nursing care. This latest uplift represents a win for the care sector operating in a challenging time and is a testament to our collective efforts. Our work is not done though.
'The Government must now lend consideration to the legal definition of NHS-funded nursing care to ensure its fit for the future given the increased levels of complexity seen in residential care, and how care providers have had to adapt their services to meet the ever-changing needs of their residents.
'We need to make sure that not only is care funded appropriately, but that our nursing staff are recognised and rewarded accordingly, in line with NHS nurses. Whilst the latest uplift is a step in the right direction, the Government must now act to secure the future of nursing provision in residential care.'
In other news, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is inviting people with experience of growing up in the UK care system to share their views.