'Functional system needed to pay for nurse social care'

Councils and health boards in Wales are locked in a legal dispute over who should pay for nurses who deliver social care in residential homes.

The NHS pays for people who need 24-hour care, while those with the "lowest need" are funded privately or by the council.

But who should pay for those who need some, but not constant nursing care, is to be decided by the Supreme Court.

A group of care home owners secured a judicial review which ruled in their favour.

But the health boards won an appeal, which is due to be considered by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Care Forum Wales (CFW), which represents more than 450 social care providers across Wales, said the cost of the care under dispute was about £20 a day.

Chairman Mario Kreft said nobody wanted to pay, adding: "You would think by now we would have had a system that was functional."