NHS Funded Nursing Care (FNC) Rate 2026: What Your Parent Receives

If your parent lives in a nursing home in England but does not qualify for full NHS Continuing Healthcare, they are almost certainly entitled to NHS Funded Nursing Care — a weekly payment that covers the registered nursing component of their care. Many families do not realise this exists, or assume it is already included in the fees they are paying. It often is not.

The 2026 FNC Rates

The standard FNC rate from April 2026 is £267.68 per week. This is paid directly by the NHS to the nursing home — it should not appear on your parent's invoice as a charge they are expected to cover.

There is also a higher rate of £368.24 per week, but this applies only to residents who qualified for the higher band before October 2007. No new residents can be placed on the higher rate.

The standard rate alone reduces the annual cost of nursing care by approximately £13,919. For a self-funder paying £1,400 per week in nursing home fees, FNC brings the effective weekly cost down to £1,132.

Who Qualifies

FNC is available to anyone in a nursing home (a home registered to provide nursing care) whose care needs include input from a registered nurse. This covers the vast majority of nursing home residents.

Your parent does not need to apply for FNC separately. When they are assessed as not eligible for full CHC, the Integrated Care Board should automatically arrange for FNC to be paid to the nursing home. In practice, this does not always happen promptly — and some nursing homes fail to claim it.

Check your parent's latest invoice. If the full weekly fee is being charged without an FNC deduction, contact the ICB and the nursing home to confirm FNC is in place. If it has not been set up, the nursing home can backdate the claim.

FNC vs. Full CHC

FNC and CHC are different benefits, though they are assessed through the same process:

• Full CHC means the NHS pays 100% of care costs — accommodation, personal care, and nursing. The parent pays nothing. This requires a finding that the parent has a "primary health need."
• FNC is the fallback when CHC is not awarded. The NHS pays only the nursing component (£267.68/week), and the parent or council pays the rest.

A parent can receive FNC while being a self-funder, while being council-funded, or while being partially funded. FNC status does not change the means test calculation — it simply reduces the total bill.

What About Residential Homes Without Nursing

FNC only applies to nursing homes — care homes registered to provide nursing care with on-site registered nurses. If your parent is in a residential care home (personal care only, no nursing registration), FNC does not apply.

If your parent's needs increase and they begin requiring nursing input, the care home may suggest a transfer to a nursing home. At that point, FNC becomes relevant and should be arranged.

Challenging a Missing FNC Payment

If your parent has been in a nursing home for months or years without FNC being applied, contact the ICB responsible for the area where the nursing home is located. Request confirmation of FNC status and a backdated payment if it should have been in place from admission.

The nursing home has a financial incentive to ensure FNC is claimed — it is additional revenue for them on top of what the resident or council pays. If the home is not cooperating, escalate directly to the ICB.

The England Care Funding Guide covers how FNC interacts with the financial assessment, self-funder status, and Attendance Allowance — so you can see exactly how it fits into the overall funding picture.

See more England guides →