Local Health Boards across Wales are starting to take decisions on the Funded Nursing Care (FNC) rate with two Health Boards (Betsi Cadwaladr and Hywel Dda) meeting this week with the item on the agenda.

CFW remains concerned about whether the amounts they’ll recommend will be as high as those in the review. CFW yet again raised concerns about the time it was taking to resolve the FNC issue in August after it appeared that decisions had yet to be made on FNC despite the Laing and Buisson report which they commissioned being completed in June.

In his letter to the Health Boards, the health minister Mark Drakeford and deputy minister on August 23 (which CFW members received a copy of), CFW chairman, Mario Kreft, said: “Given Laing & Buisson’s findings there can be no doubt now that nursing homes have been substantially underpaid for some time [for Funded Nursing Care].

“This shortfall obviously puts pressure on standards, and so is ultimately a matter of resident welfare… we were all promised that this matter would be resolved last September [2012].

“The chief executive of Aneurin Bevan Health Board, Dr Andrew Goodall, responded to Mr Kreft on September 12 acknowledging the process had taken longer than anticipated.

He confirmed that Health Board chief executives have now agreed the recommendations of the Review which they will present to their Health Boards.

Dr Goodall added that the Aneurin Bevan Health Board would write to care home providers in its area to inform them of the Board’s decision.

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