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NEWS RELEASE FROM
THE REGISTERED NURSING HOME ASSOCIATION
Issued 17th July 2001
'NOT ENOUGH' - NURSING HOME LEADERS TELL
GOVERNMENT ABOUT NHS-FUNDED NURSING CARE
'Not enough' is the response of Britain's nursing home leaders to news from the Government today that the NHS will contribute an average of just £70 a week to meet the cost of the nursing care provided to nursing home residents from October.
The Registered Nursing Home Association said the Government would be selling older and severely disabled people short if it thought that 24-hour nursing care was worth just £10 a day. It has called on the Government to rethink its approach and to base the figures on realistic calculations of what it costs to provide nursing care.
The RNHA says it is also a big mistake, as the Government proposes, for the nurses who carry out assessments to see whether people need nursing home care to be employed by exactly the same organisations (Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts) as those which will fund the care provided.
RNHA chief executive officer Frank Ursell commented: "If we have learned anything from community care, it is that assessments of needs carried out by local authority social services departments often appear to be budget-related rather than focusing on the real needs of patients.".
He added: "To coin a phrase, the Government cannot be serious about the money. We will be appealing to them to look again at the costs and at mechanisms for separating the assessment process from funding decisions."
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For further information or comment please contact Frank Ursell, Chief Executive Officer, RNHA on 07785 227000 (mobile) or 0121-454 2511 (office)
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