Nursing Care and Assessment

The Health and Social Care Act 2001 defines nursing care as:

“services provided by a registered nurse and involving either the provision of care or the planning, supervision or delegation of the provision of care, other than services which, having regard to their nature and circumstance in which they are provided, do not need to be

provided by a registered nurse”.

This definition covers the time a registered nurse spends providing nursing care and maintaining and supervising work that has been delegated to a non-registered nurse, such as a care assistant.

The Primary Care Trusts, of which there are two in Dudley, are responsible for commissioning and funding NHS services to meet the nursing care (and medical and other healthcare) needs of the population.

PCTs are therefore responsible for funding:

Services for those who meet eligibility criteria for continuing NHS care – that is a package of care arranged and funded solely by the NHS. This care, managed by a health professional, may be provided in a range of settings, including a care home registered to provide nursing care, in an NHS hospital, a hospice or a person’s own home.
NHS funded registered nursing care in a care home. This relates solely to care provided by a registered nurse and is paid for by the NHS on behalf of residents receiving nursing care in care homes registered to provide such care. To determine how much the NHS will pay for the care provided by registered nurses a nurse will conduct an assessment to establish what the Registered Nursing Care Contribution (RNCC) will be.

There are currently three bands of payment for nursing care.

Levels set for the financial year 2005/2006 are: -

Low Band: £40 per week for nursing care needs that can be met with minimal registered nurse input. Needs may be assessed as falling between the low and medium bands, in which case PCT’s have the flexibility to pay an amount between the £40 low band payment and the medium band.

Medium Band: £77.50 per week for nursing care to meet multiple care needs that require intervention of a registered nurse on at least a daily basis, and may need access to a nurse at any time. Applies where the condition(s) requiring nursing intervention are stable and predictable and are likely to remain so if care continues.

High Band: £125 per week for nursing care to meet complex needs that require frequent mechanical, technical and/or therapeutic interventions by a registered nurse throughout a 24 hour period and the physical or mental condition is unstable and/or unpredictable.

Following the assessment for Registered Nursing Care Contributions, individual’s needs are reviewed after 3 months and annually thereafter.

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