§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care homes have presented their statement of purpose to the National Care Standards Commission as set out in Statutory Instrument 3969; how many are expected to do so by 1 April 2002; what methods he is using to publicise the statements of purpose; how many should already have presented their statements of purpose to the National Care Standards Commission; and what steps he will take if a care home has failed to produce the statement of purpose by the required date. [40803]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 8 March 2002]: Care homes that were previously exempt from regulation under the Registered Homes Act 1984, such as local authority provision and homes set up by Royal Charter are required under transitional arrangements to make an application for registration by 31 March 2002 (SI.3852(C. 125)). They are required to provide a statement of purpose to the National Care Standards Commission with the application for registration (SI. 3969). Because applications do not have to be with the Commission until 31 March it is not possible to estimate how many will be received by that date. The Commission is now starting to receive applications but does not expect to receive the bulk of these until the last week in March.
Currently, registered care homes will be required to comply with regulation 4 of the Care Homes Regulations 2001 (SI 2001 No. 3965) which requires a statement of purpose to be compiled. The National Care Standards Commission will establish, as part of the first inspection of care homes, that they have prepared a statement of purpose. If regulation 4 is not complied with on inspection, the Commission will agree action and a timescale with the provider for compliance to be achieved. If compliance is not achieved at the end of this period the Commission will take enforcement action.
Information on the number of care homes failing to do so will be provided by the Commission to the Department of Health as part of the Commission's general reporting on care homes' compliance with the regulations and national minimum standards. The Department has no plans to publicise statements of purpose but providers must make these publicly available.
170W
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish the regulatory impact assessment for care homes for younger adults; and if he will place a copy in the Library. [40804]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 8 March 2002]: The Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Care Homes Regulations and National Minimum Standards for Older People and for Younger Adults were placed in the Library on 21 January 2002. We will be placing the regulatory impact assessment for care homes and for other service areas on the Department's National Care Standards Commission website shortly.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) pursuant to his answer of 25 February 2002,Official Report, column 945W, on nursing care, what plans he has to compensate those self-funding residents who have not had their free nursing care assessment money passed on to them by the care home in the form of a reduced fee; [40805]
(2) pursuant to his answer of 25 February 2002, Official Report, column 945W, on nursing care, what (a) evidence and (b) representations he has received that care homes are failing to pass on payment for free nursing care to self-funding residents; [40807]
(3) pursuant to his answer of 27 February, ref. 26579, on nursing care, if the Government plans to (a) pay compensation and (b) pay interest to those people whose banding of nursing had not been completed by the end of December 2001. [40809]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 8 March 2002]: I have received correspondence on this subject from many people who are distressed about the way that nursing home owners are taking account of the Registered Nursing Care Contribution (RNCC) when revising their fee levels. I have written to some national providers of care homes about this and shall be meeting them shortly to discuss this matter further. Meanwhile, a core contract between the national health service and nursing homes developed by the Department has been sent to the Service. This clarifies the relationship between the parties and makes clear the relationship between the two and how the RNCC should be accounted for.
The national health service is funding care from a registered nurse, which is being provided by the nursing home and payments are made in respect of individuals' care to the home for that care with effect from 1 October 2001 or from whenever they entered the nursing home. There is therefore no question of compensation or payments to individuals.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 27 February, refs. 26582 and 26638, on nursing homes, what exceptions would entail residents receiving funding under the scheme of the country other than that in which the nursing home is situated. [40808]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 8 March 2002]: A protocol to manage this is currently being developed by officials in the Department of Health and in the Welsh 171W Assembly. This will set out the responsibilities for funding care and, if there are to be any exceptions to people receiving funding under the scheme of the country other than that in which the nursing home is situated, will spell out the circumstances.
§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what investigations he undertakes into charges made by nursing homes, with particular reference to amounts paid by those who are(a) in receipt of state funded places and (b) privately financed; and if he will make a statement. [42633]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 12 March 2002]: The Department has funded research by the Personal Social Services Research Unit into the closure of care homes for older people. The research looked at the impact of pricing policies. A report on the results of the research will be placed in the Library.
Where a nursing home placement is supported by a local council, the contribution paid by the resident is determined by the National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1992.
I announced on I I March that we will be amending the care home regulations to oblige homes to provide a breakdown of their fees. This will make it clear which aspects of the fees relate to nursing care and which to residential care.
§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 27 February 2002,Official Report, column 1400W, on care homes, whether the regulatory impact assessment was a final document. [43367]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 14 March 2002]: The full Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Care Homes Regulations and National Minimum Standards for Older People and for Younger Adults, which was placed in the Library on 21 January 2002, was the final version.