NHS-Funded Nursing Care – A tax-free, non-means tested benefit

Patients in a Nursing Home (or a home that is registered to provide nursing care) can claim NHS-Funded Nursing Care (FNC) to help towards the nursing element of their care.  It is paid at two flat rates, standard rate or higher rate, depending on the amount of nursing care needed.

FNC is set at a standard weekly rate per person rising from £235.88 to £254.06 per week from 1 April 2025.

The funding is paid by the NHS directly to the nursing home.

FNC cannot be claimed at your own home or in a residential care home.

FNC is a tax-free, non-means tested benefit.

FNC is considered at the same time as you are assessed for NHS Continuing Health Care Funding (CHC).  If you been found not eligible for CHC, but you need care from a registered nurse, the NHS will automatically decide if FNC is appropriate and, if so, which of the two rates should be paid.

So, there are two different types of funding, CHC and FNC:

• NHS–Continuing Healthcare (CHC) – is full funding covering care at home or in a care home, hospice or other care facility. It covers 100% of care fees, including social care and the cost of accommodation – i.e. everything.
• NHS-Funded Nursing Care (FNC) – is a weekly benefit paid by the local NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) for people who need some nursing care, but who are not eligible for full CHC Funding. It covers the services provided by a registered nurse, including planning, supervising and monitoring nursing and healthcare tasks, as well as the physical nursing care.

When and how is FNC assessed?

The only way anyone can decide whether your relative should receive FNC is if they first have a free assessment for NHS Continuing Healthcare.

If, having been assessed for CHC, they are found not eligible, the NHS Nurse Assessor will  automatically consider if FNC is appropriate.

Remember: Paragraph 274 of the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care states that you MUST be assessed for NHS-Continuing Healthcare first. Only after that should your relative be assessed for FNC – not the other way round:

Paragraph 274 – National Framework – ‘Eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare must be considered, and a decision made and recorded (either at the Checklist or DST stage), prior to any decision on eligibility for NHS-funded Nursing Care. For clarity, people who do not require a full assessment of eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare can still be eligible for NHS-funded Nursing Care. If an individual has a negative Checklist this simply means that they are not eligible for, and do not require, assessment of eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare at this point in time. However, they may require registered nursing in a care home with nursing’.

Our Tip: Don’t make the mistake of being pushed into talking about FNC unless and until your relative has first had their CHC assessment and been turned down!

When isn’t FNC applicable?

FNC is not paid if your relative has to go into hospital. (They may still have to pay for their care home placement in the meantime, though.)

FNC is to pay for the time of a registered nurse. Therefore, if  your relative is not receiving care from a registered nurse, FNC will not be applicable.

You cannot get FNC in your own home or in a residential care home. It can only be paid in a nursing home that is registered to provide nursing care.

How is FNC paid?

As above, FNC is a weekly sum paid directly by the NHS Integrated Care Board to the nursing care home (unless there is an agreement in place for this to be paid via a third party (e.g. a local authority). It is a contribution to ‘reimburse’ the cost of any nursing care provided by the registered nurse.

Depending on how the care home contract is written, it may lower the overall care fees paid by the individual. So, if you’re paying for your own care, and your fees are calculated to include all nursing care, your care fees should reduce once the NHS starts paying FNC. However, many people see no difference at all, even though the care home is obliged to show how FNC reduces the care fees. Transparency is paramount. Yet, some nursing homes may see this as a ‘windfall’.

If the contract is silent (i.e. it doesn’t mention how FNC payments are to be handled), they may well pocket the FNC payment received from the NHS, and in addition, still charge your relative full rates! It’s always worth questioning this with the care home and, of course, checking what the contract states prior to accepting the placement.

Many families are unaware that their relative is in receipt of FNC, or if they are, don’t really understand what it is, and so don’t challenge what happens to the payments.

Our Tips:

1. Look at the contract and the monthly invoices to see whether FNC is mentioned.
2. Check to see how they have accounted for FNC and whether credit has been given for this weekly payment to reduce the fees payable.
3. If necessary, speak to the Continuing Healthcare Department at your local NHS Integrated Care Board.
4. Also consider paragraph 280 of the National Framework, set out below:

• Paragraph 280: ‘The Care home provider should set an overall fee level for the provision of care and accommodation. This should include any registered nursing care provided by them. Where an ICB assesses that the resident’s needs require the input of a registered nurse they will pay the NHS-funded Nursing Care payment (at the nationally agreed rate) direct to the care home, unless there is an agreement in place for this to be paid via a third party (e.g. a local authority). The balance of the fee will then be paid by the individual, their representative or the local authority unless other contracting arrangements have been agreed’.

How Long Does FNC last?

According to paragraph 277 of the NHS National Framework, individuals who are in receipt of NHS-funded Nursing Care are entitled to continue to receive it whilst they are alive until it is no longer appropriate. For example:

(a) if your relative no longer lives in a care home (or one that provides registered nursing care); or

(b) lives in a care home but does not now need any level of nursing care from a registered nurse; or

(c) your relative’s healthcare needs have changed and they have become entitled to fully funded free NHS Continuing Healthcare instead.

Tax and benefits

FNC is a tax-free benefit and is not means-tested.

As above, it can be withdrawn if the NHS decides you no longer need it.

FNC does not affect your entitlement to Attendance Allowance. However, it’s always best to double check your payments, as it has been known for government employees to confuse FNC with NHS Continuing Healthcare and, as a result, stop paying Attendance Allowance!

For more information, read our blog from the archives to give an outline (Nb: please be aware that some of the rates may have since changed):

Is your relative claiming their full entitlement to benefits?

What should you do?

If your relative has nursing needs but is not receiving either FNC or CHC:

1. Make sure they are assessed for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding (full funding).
2. If they’ve already been assessed for full funding but turned down, ask the NHS Continuing Care Team why FNC has not been awarded.
3. Ask the care home to give you a breakdown of the nursing element of care in your relative’s care plan to support your enquiry.
4. If there is a change in care needs after FNC or CHC has been assessed, make sure to ask for a new assessment for CHC. This could result in standard or higher rate FNC or CHC becoming payable.

And of course, if you believe the outcome of the NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment was wrong, you must appeal! Visit our website for lots of helpful blogs on appeals.

For further reading about FNC, look at paragraphs 270 – 286 of the National Framework: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64b0f7cdc033c100108062f9/National-Framework-for-NHS-Continuing-Healthcare-and-NHS-funded-Nursing-Care_July-2022-revised_corrected-July-2023.pdf