Ask most families searching for NHS help with care home fees, and they picture one assessment: either the NHS pays for everything, or it pays for nothing. In reality, there are two separate NHS funding routes for someone living in a nursing home, and most people who ask this question end up with the second, more modest one: Funded Nursing Care (FNC), not full NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC).
CHC is rare. When it's awarded, it covers the whole cost of care, healthcare and accommodation, but only a minority of people assessed actually qualify. FNC is far more common: a fixed weekly payment from the NHS toward the nursing element of a nursing home stay, currently £267.68 a week for 2026/27. It reduces the bill; it doesn't wipe it out.
If your parent has just moved into a nursing home, or you've received a CHC refusal letter and don't know what happens next, this is almost certainly where you land. Here's how FNC eligibility is actually decided, what the current rate means for the weekly invoice, and what to do if it wasn't applied.
What Funded Nursing Care actually is
Funded Nursing Care is a weekly payment the NHS makes directly to a nursing home, not to you or your family, to cover the cost of care that should be delivered by a registered nurse. It's sometimes called NHS-funded nursing care, or simply FNC.
It only applies to residents of a nursing home — a care home registered to provide nursing care, as opposed to a residential home offering personal care alone. If your relative lives in a residential home, FNC doesn't apply, because there's no registered-nurse-led care for it to fund. If nursing needs increase to the point where a nursing home becomes necessary, that move is usually the trigger for an FNC assessment.
FNC does not cover accommodation, food, or the day-to-day personal care delivered by care assistants. Those costs are still paid by the resident, if self-funding, or the council, if means-tested, exactly as they would be without FNC. The payment reduces what's left to pay; it doesn't make the placement free, and it isn't means-tested itself, according to NHS England's guidance on NHS-funded nursing care.
FNC vs CHC — how the two NHS funding streams differ
FNC and CHC are both NHS funding streams for people needing nursing home care, but they answer different questions, and most families only ever meet one of them.
| NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) | Funded Nursing Care (FNC) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | The entire cost of care, including accommodation and personal care | Only the nursing element, at a fixed weekly rate |
| How eligibility is decided | The full Decision Support Tool (DST), across 12 care domains | A registered nurse's assessment of nursing needs |
| How common it is | Rare — most people assessed are not found eligible | Common — most nursing home residents who need nursing care qualify |
NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is decided using the full DST, which assesses whether someone has a "primary health need." Under the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care (Department of Health and Social Care, last revised July 2022), most people assessed for CHC are not found eligible — the bar is intentionally high. Our full NHS Continuing Healthcare eligibility test explains that process in detail.
Funded Nursing Care (FNC) is decided by the narrower registered nurse assessment covered below, not the 12-domain DST. It's far more common, because the question is simply whether nursing home-level care is needed, not whether there's a primary health need.
The practical takeaway for most families: if you've just been told someone isn't eligible for CHC, that isn't the end of NHS help. It usually just means the next question, FNC eligibility, hasn't been answered yet.
How FNC eligibility is decided
A registered nurse, commissioned by the local NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB), carries out the nursing needs assessment, not the 12-domain DST used for CHC. The question is narrower: does this person need care from a registered nurse, delivered or supervised by one, on an ongoing basis? If yes, FNC applies.
In practice, this assessment usually happens automatically once someone is confirmed as needing nursing home care rather than residential care, often around the time of admission. But "usually" isn't "always" — confirm directly with the home or the ICB that the assessment has actually taken place, rather than assuming it has.
The National Framework is explicit that FNC should always be considered when someone is assessed for CHC and not found eligible — it describes this as the necessary next step, not an optional extra. If a family has received a CHC refusal letter that says nothing about FNC, that's worth querying with the ICB directly rather than leaving it there.
What the current FNC rate means for your weekly bill
For the 2026/27 financial year, the standard FNC rate in England is £267.68 a week, paid by the NHS directly to the nursing home. A higher rate of £368.24 a week applies only to a small, shrinking group who were already receiving the old "high band" payment before it was standardised in October 2007.
Say a nursing home charges £1,400 a week, and the resident, a self-funder, is assessed as eligible for standard-rate FNC. The NHS pays £267.68 of that directly to the home, and the resident's own bill drops to £1,132.32 a week. FNC reduces the bill; it doesn't replace it.
FNC is paid regardless of how the rest of the fee is being covered. Self-funders and council-funded residents both receive it once eligible, and it sits alongside whatever funding arrangement is already in place, not instead of it.
These figures are correct for the 2026/27 financial year and are reviewed every April when the Department of Health and Social Care publishes the new rate. See our current care home funding rates for 2026/27 for the full picture, including council rates and top-up fees, and check back each spring, since the numbers here will change.
What to do if FNC was refused, or if you think CHC should apply instead
If FNC hasn't been applied, or you think the wrong funding stream is in place, there's a clear sequence to follow.
- Ask in writing why FNC wasn't applied. If your relative is in a nursing home and receiving no NHS contribution, that shouldn't normally happen once nursing home care is confirmed — a refusal should come with a documented reason.
- Request a formal review of the nursing needs assessment through the ICB if you believe it didn't reflect the resident's actual needs. Reviews follow a set process under the National Framework, similar in principle to a CHC appeal but narrower in scope.
- Ask explicitly whether a full CHC assessment has ever taken place, not just FNC. CHC eligibility isn't fixed for life; if health has declined or new complex needs have emerged, it can be worth requesting a CHC reassessment.
- Keep dated records of every assessment visit, letter, and stated reason for a decision. This is the single most useful thing a family can do to support a later review, for CHC or FNC alike.
This explains the general review process under official guidance. It isn't personalised legal or clinical advice — for complex health needs, discuss the specific assessment with the ICB directly, or seek a dedicated funding advice service.
Working out what FNC actually saves you, on top of council rates, top-up fees, and your own contribution, gets complicated fast. RightCareHome's Funding Guide walks through your specific numbers — FNC, means testing, and the real weekly cost — so you know what you're actually paying before you sign anything. Start with a free funding check if you're not sure which route applies.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between FNC and NHS Continuing Healthcare?
FNC is a fixed weekly NHS payment toward the nursing element of care in a nursing home — it reduces the bill but doesn't cover everything. Full NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is rarer and, when awarded, covers the entire cost of care, including accommodation. Most people assessed end up with FNC rather than full CHC.
How much is Funded Nursing Care in 2026/27?
The standard FNC rate for 2026/27 is £267.68 a week, paid directly to the nursing home. A higher legacy rate of £368.24 a week applies only to a small, historic group who were already on the old high band before October 2007. Rates change every April, so check the current figure each spring.
Who decides whether someone is eligible for FNC?
A registered nurse carries out a nursing needs assessment, which is narrower than the full 12-domain Decision Support Tool used for CHC. It asks specifically whether the person needs ongoing care from, or supervised by, a registered nurse.
Can I still get FNC if I was refused NHS Continuing Healthcare?
Yes, in most cases. A CHC refusal simply means the person didn't meet the higher bar for full funding. The National Framework requires FNC to be considered as the next step, and most nursing home residents who don't qualify for CHC do qualify for FNC.
Does FNC apply if I'm in a residential (non-nursing) care home?
No. FNC only applies to nursing homes, because it funds the registered-nurse-led element of care that a residential home isn't registered to provide. If needs increase to the point where nursing care is required, that's usually the trigger to consider a move to a nursing home, with an FNC assessment alongside it.