§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health under which circumstances the NHS might pay a retainer for the nursing costs to a nursing home during a time a person is in hospital. [26580]
§ Jacqui SmithThe circumstances in which the National Health Service will pay a retainer should be set out in the contract which the NHS agrees with the nursing home.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health authorities and primary care trusts have completed their determinations of the banding of nursing care for those who were resident in nursing homes at 1 October 2001 and were paying for their own fees; for 1401W those health authorities and primary care trusts which have not yet completed the determinations, how many each authority has outstanding; how many health authorities and primary care trusts have not yet begun their determinations; if the Government plan to pay interest to those people whose determinations of the banding of nursing care have not been completed by the end of December 2001; and for each health authority and primary care trust that has completed the determinations, what percentage of residents has been placed in (a) the lowest band, (b) the middle band, (c) the highest band, (d) a higher level based on individual need and (e) the percentage found to require fully funded NHS care. [26579]
§ Jacqui SmithPreliminary information available from regions of the position at the end of December, indicates that around 80 per cent. of the nursing homes with residents eligible for National Health Service funded nursing care had had their residents' needs for care determined by a registered nurse. The majority of the remaining assessments were completed by the end of January.
Around 99 per cent. of people in nursing homes whose needs have been determined have been found to be eligible. Of those whose needs have been determined, around 19 per cent. have been allocated to the low band; 58 per cent. to the middle band; and 22 per cent. to the high band. The information collected did not include those found to require fully funded NHS care, but the Department is aware that this has occurred in a significant number of cases.
The NHS is funding care from a registered nurse, which is being provided by the nursing home and payments are made to the home for that care from October 2001.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether Welsh residents who move to a nursing home in England will receive NHS funding under(a) the Welsh or (b) the English scheme; [26582]
(2) whether English residents who move to a nursing home in Wales will receive NHS funding under (a) the Welsh or (b) the English scheme. [26638]
§ Jacqui SmithResidents will receive funding for their nursing care from the authority that is responsible for their health care. In general, this means that residents will receive funding under the scheme of the country in which the nursing home is situated.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures the Government are taking to ensure that additional administration costs incurred by a home as a result of the implementation of free nursing care are not passed on to the resident. [26581]
§ Jacqui SmithThe national health service is working at a local level to minimise the administrative burdens on both the NHS and nursing homes. Local agreements should ensure that administration costs are not passed on as a separate charge to individuals.