The NHS Pays £267.68 a Week Toward Nursing Home Costs From April 2026
The standard NHS funded nursing care rate rose to £267.68 per week from 1 April 2026 — a 5.4% uplift from the 2025-26 rate of £254.06, and the third consecutive annual increase (GOV.UK, March 2026). Around 80,000 people in England receive FNC. At that scale, the total annual NHS spend on this single contribution is roughly £1.1 billion.
The announcement landed on 9 March 2026 and was welcomed by care sector bodies. But it prompted a sharper question: if the NHS acknowledges that nursing care costs are rising, why is the eligibility rate for full CHC funding — the entitlement that covers everything — falling at exactly the same time?
TL;DR: The FNC rate rises to £267.68/week from April 2026 — worth £13,919/year. Three consecutive increases since 2024 have lifted the rate by 22%. But CHC eligibility has dropped from 31% to 17% of those assessed since 2017/18 (NHS Digital, 2026). FNC is a contribution; CHC is full funding. Many families on FNC should be on CHC.
Key Facts
- £267.68/week — standard FNC rate from 1 April 2026 (up from £254.06)
- £368.24/week — higher FNC rate for those receiving FNC before October 2007
- +5.4% — the 2026 uplift; the rate has risen 22% over three years
- ~80,000 people currently receive FNC in England
- 17% — CHC eligibility rate in 2025/26, down from 31% in 2017/18
- 51,154 adults were eligible for CHC in Q3 2025/26 (NHS Digital, February 2026)
This is the annual rate update. For the full eligibility criteria, how to apply, and how FNC compares to CHC in detail, see our complete NHS Funded Nursing Care guide.
What Does the April 2026 Rate Increase Actually Mean for Families?
At £267.68 per week, FNC now contributes roughly 18% of a typical nursing home fee — with average weekly nursing home costs running around £1,512 (GOV.UK, March 2026). The increase means an additional £13.62 per week compared to 2025-26, or around £709 more per year that the NHS contributes directly to the nursing home. Costs vary widely by region — see our breakdown of UK care home costs by region for 2026 for the gap between the cheapest and most expensive areas.
The payment goes straight to the care home, not to the family. The home reduces its invoice accordingly. For a self-funded resident, the net family cost drops from £78,624 to roughly £64,705 per year — still substantial, but £13,919 less than without FNC.
There's also a higher rate of £368.24 per week, up from £349.50. This applies only to a small group: people who were already receiving FNC under the old two-tier system before October 2007. Anyone assessed after that date receives the standard rate. It's worth checking the paperwork if there's any uncertainty about when an FNC assessment was first completed.
One thing families often miss: FNC is paid from the date of the assessment, not from when the need arose. If a request was delayed — whether because nobody mentioned it, or because of ICB administrative backlogs — that backdating window is limited. Asking sooner avoids losing months of entitlement.
What Do Three Consecutive FNC Increases Tell Families?
Three annual increases in a row have lifted the standard FNC rate by 22% since 2023/24 — from £219.71 to £267.68 (GOV.UK, March 2025). Each increase reflects DHSC's acknowledgement that the real cost of providing qualified nursing care has risen materially.
The Numbers Behind the 22% Rise
Care England's Chief Executive responded to the announcement by noting nursing providers need similar recognition in CHC fees — highlighting a growing gap between the complexity of care being delivered and the funding available for it (National Health Executive, March 2026). FNC increases are welcome. But they're a sticking plaster on a deeper issue: funding structures haven't kept pace with the acuity of people now living in nursing homes.
Families can draw their own conclusion. If care complexity is rising — and it demonstrably is — more people in nursing homes may now meet the CHC threshold than the current data suggests.
The FNC vs CHC Gap: Why £267.68 a Week Isn't the Ceiling
FNC eligibility has held relatively steady at around 80,000 people. CHC eligibility has fallen sharply: the rate dropped from 31% of those assessed in 2017/18 to just 17% in 2025/26 (NHS Digital, February 2026). That divergence is striking. More people are receiving the smaller payment while fewer are being granted the full entitlement.
The Nuffield Trust has described CHC as having been "consigned to the too difficult box" — a system that exists on paper but is increasingly inaccessible in practice (Nuffield Trust, September 2025). ICBs face budget pressure. Full CHC is expensive: it can cost the NHS £50,000 or more per year per person, against FNC's £13,919. The recent ICB eligibility cuts sweeping through 2025-26 show the same pattern at local level — Staffordshire ICB alone removed 293 people from CHC in a single year.
How Far Apart Are FNC and CHC in Practice?
Both entitlements come from the same NHS. Neither is means-tested. But the gap in what they cover couldn't be wider.
| NHS Funded Nursing Care (FNC) | NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) | |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly rate (2026/27) | £267.68 (fixed) | Full cost of all care |
| Annual NHS contribution | £13,919 | Typically £50,000–£80,000 |
| Covers | Nursing element only | All care, accommodation, and therapies |
| Who pays the rest | Family or local authority | Nobody — NHS covers everything |
| Means-tested | No | No |
| Eligibility trigger | Nursing need in registered nursing home | Primary health need |
The gap between those figures is why the assessment decision matters so much to families. FNC contributes toward cost. CHC eliminates it. That's not a marginal difference — for most families, it's the difference between depleting savings and keeping them intact. For the full breakdown of what each entitlement covers, see our NHS funded nursing care guide and the main NHS Continuing Healthcare guide.
Why the CHC Checklist Must Come Before the FNC Assessment
The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare requires that a CHC checklist screening precedes any FNC assessment (NHS National Framework, 2022). In practice, this sequence is often skipped. An FNC assessment gets completed, eligibility is confirmed, and the question of CHC never gets raised properly.
Why does that matter? Because the two processes address different questions. FNC asks: does this person have a nursing need? CHC asks: is the overall nature, intensity, complexity, and unpredictability of their needs beyond what local authority care can address? Someone can have both a nursing need and a primary health need. If the checklist isn't done, that second question never gets answered.
Accepting FNC without a prior CHC checklist is a common — and costly — error. It doesn't disqualify anyone from seeking a CHC assessment later. But it means the clock keeps running.
In practice, the families who come to CareAdvocate most often describe the same sequence: their relative was assessed for FNC, started receiving £267.68 per week, and months or years passed without anyone suggesting a CHC checklist. By the time the question arose, evidence had gone cold, care records were incomplete, and the window for backdating had closed.
Preventing that outcome is straightforward. When an FNC assessment is requested or offered, put this in writing simultaneously: "Please confirm whether a CHC checklist screening has been completed for [name]. If not, we're requesting one now." The ICB is obliged to respond. If you want a quick gauge of whether the threshold might be met before contacting the ICB, our free CHC eligibility screener takes about five minutes.
What Should Families With FNC Recipients Do Now?
From 1 April 2026, the standard FNC rate is £267.68 per week — the nursing home invoice should reflect this from that date. If it doesn't, contact the ICB and the home in writing. Two straightforward steps are worth taking this week.
First, verify the new rate is being applied. Check the most recent invoice and confirm the FNC deduction has updated from £254.06 to £267.68. If it hasn't, request written confirmation from the ICB that the 2026/27 rate will be applied from 1 April.
Second, don't treat FNC as the end of the story. Use the free CHC eligibility screener to gauge whether a full CHC assessment might be warranted. It's a five-minute exercise. If there's any doubt, request a CHC checklist from the ICB — it costs nothing and carries no downside. The worst outcome is confirmation that FNC is the right level of funding.
The rate increase is welcome. But for families whose relative's needs are complex, unpredictable, or deteriorating, the more important conversation is whether £267.68 a week is really all the NHS owes.
Citation capsule — FNC rate 2026: The NHS funded nursing care standard rate rose to £267.68 per week from 1 April 2026, a 5.4% increase from £254.06 in 2025-26 and the third consecutive annual rise. Around 80,000 people in England receive FNC, which is paid directly to registered nursing homes and is not means-tested. Source: GOV.UK, 9 March 2026.
Citation capsule — CHC eligibility trend: The NHS Continuing Healthcare eligibility rate fell from 31% of those assessed in 2017/18 to 17% in 2025/26, with 51,154 adults eligible in Q3 2025/26 alone. The Nuffield Trust described CHC as having been "consigned to the too difficult box" amid sustained ICB budget pressure. Sources: NHS Digital, February 2026; Nuffield Trust, September 2025.
This article is based on GOV.UK announcements of the 2026-27 FNC rate (March 2026), the NHS National Framework for Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care (revised July 2022, corrected July 2023), and NHS Digital CHC statistics (Q3 2025/26). It does not constitute legal advice. Content was last reviewed in May 2026 and has been reviewed by legal professionals and social care professionals.