The government announced an increase in the funding for nursing care in care homes, effective from 1 April 2003. The three bands of funding (depending on level of need) will be raised from 35 to 40, 70 to 75 and 110 to 120. (When the new scheme was introduced in October 2001 the government made a commitment to reassess the bands of nursing care.)
Source: Press release 23.12.02, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release
Date: 2002-Dec
Independent analysts (Laing and Buisson) reportedly warned that the number of elderly people needing full-time care would outstrip the number of nursing home beds by 2005.
Source: The Independent, 24.12.02
Links: No link
Date: 2002-Dec
A study evaluated residential rehabilitation services for older people discharged from hospital.
Source: Tessa Trappes-Lomax, Annie Ellis and Mary Fox, Buying Time: An evaluation and cost effectiveness analysis of a joint health/social care residential rehabilitation unit for older people on discharge from hospital, Centre for Evidence Based Social Services/University of Exeter (01392 262865)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2002-Nov
The government began consultation on amended (weakened) environmental standards, aimed at ensuring that 'good local care homes do not fear closure' because they may not meet all the standards; the consultation document set out how the standards should be amended to exempt care homes which existed before 1 April 2002.
Source: Care Homes for Older People and Younger Adults: Consultation Document, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Consultation Document (pdf)
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/3, Digest 123, paragraph 5.6
Date: 2002-Aug
Researchers reportedly found that some people in residential and nursing homes are paying for medical care, because their homes have private arrangements with local general practitioners.
Source: Research led by Sally Jacobs of the University of Manchester, reported in The Guardian, 3.7.02
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2002-Jul
United Kingdom care capacity in residential settings for elderly and physically disabled client groups shrank by some 13,100 places in 2001, according to a survey.
Source: Care of Elderly People Market Survey 2002, Laing & Buisson (020 7833 9123)
Links: Guardian report
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/2, Digest 122, paragraph 5.6
Date: 2002-Jul
A study calculated that residential and nursing care homes for older people are underfunded by more than 1 billion a year.
Sources: W. Laing, Calculating a Fair Price for Care: A Toolkit for Residential and Nursing Care Costs, Policy Press for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: JRF Findings 612 (pdf)
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/4, Digest 124 (paragraph 5.6)
Date: 2002-May