State support for LTC in England, Wales & N. Ireland
Background
Royal Commission
At the end of 1997 a Royal Commission was established by the New Labour Government to examine the short and long term options for a sustainable system of funding long term care for elderly people.
The Royal Commission reported in March 1999, and in the media this report is now commonly referred to as the Sutherland report. It recommended that the costs of long term care should be split into 2 main components, namely:
- the cost of providing care of a type which by necessity means working in close proximity with the recipient and touching the recipient's body (the care component)
- the cost of living in the accommodation in which the long term care was being provided (board and lodgings component).
All of the members of the Royal Commission concluded that the board and lodgings component should not be paid for by the State. A majority of the members indicated that the State should pay for the care component. The minority suggested that the care component should be split into personal and nursing care, and only the nursing care, which by necessity must be provided or supervised by a registered nurse, should be paid for by the State.
NHS plan
In July 2000 the Government in London responded formally to the Sutherland report as part of its overall plan for the NHS. It stated that care should be divided into personal care and nursing care, and that only nursing care should be provided for all by the State.
In reality this meant that only residents in a care home with nursing would receive additional State support, since nursing care is provided in any other setting by the district and community nursing services which were already paid for by the State.
The Government committed to introduce free nursing care for privately funded residents in a nursing home in England by 1 October 2001, with the other devolved government or assemblies in the rest of the UK to decide their own approach.
The Current Position
Residents of Nursing Homes in England
From 1st October 2007, a single flat rate of £101 per week replaced the previous 3 banded system.
Residents of Nursing Homes in Wales
A single flat rate of £114.90 per week for all residents of Nursing Homes in Wales.
Residents of Nursing Homes in Northern Ireland
A single flat rate of £100 per week for all residents of Nursing Homes in N.Ireland.
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