NEWS RELEASE FROM
THE REGISTERED NURSING HOME ASSOCIATION
Issued 1st February 2005
RNHA WELCOMES KING’S FUND REVIEW
OF CARE FOR OLDER PEOPLE
The Registered Nursing Home Association (RNHA) today welcomed news that the prestigious King’s Fund is to mount a review of the demand for, and financing of, care for older people in England over the next twenty years.
The RNHA said that the review, to be led by Sir Derek Wanless, should help to unravel the current contradiction behind mountainous Government care standards
laid on providers of nursing home care for older people on the one hand and the frighteningly low levels of public funding to meet the cost of the care required.
Said RNHA chief executive officer, Frank Ursell: “We are delighted that the King’s Fund has taken on this challenge. The Government appears to be in a state of denial on care for older people, expecting nursing homes to provide 24-hour care for no more than the price of bed and breakfast in a budget hotel. This is not a sustainable strategy.”
He added: “We presume that the King’s Fund will welcome contributions to the debate from all the key stakeholders, including independent nursing homes. Importantly, we hope that the Government will not brush the King’s Fund aside in the same way that it has tended to brush away previous reports.”
END
For further information and comment please contact:
Frank Ursell, Chief Executive Officer, Registered Nursing Home Association
Tel: 0121-454 2500 or mobile 07785 227000.
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