Essex County Council - Provider Hub
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Market Context

Older people nursing care is for people usually over the age of 65 who require short or long term 24-hour nursing care in a Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered nursing care home. The type of services that can be provided in a registered nursing care home are: 

  • Short- or long-term nursing care
  • Short- or long-term specialist care, i.e. dementia, complex needs

The core Essex County Council contract for care home placements is the Integrated Residential and Nursing Care Framework, known as the IRN Framework.

Market Rating

The current overall Market Quality is good. There is a need to increase the number of registered nursing care homes across the county, including increasing the capacity of the nursing workforce within existing care homes.

Market Quality Market Supply ECC Demand
Good Low Stable/High
ECC Ambition Market Workforce Market Maturity
Increase Supply Low/Moderate Mature

ECC rating of the market, assessed on the 1st April 2026.

Nursing placements are and have always been relatively hard to source within the county at local authority rates, particularly West and South-West Essex.

We are working with the market to ensure care home provision meets future need and demand as set out in the Essex Supported and Specialist Housing and Accommodation Need Assessment (2025) (SSHANA). This includes an increase in nursing care home provision required across the county and supporting people with more complex needs, including complex dementia needs later in life.

Essex Market  
No. residential with nursing care homes 71
No. residential with nursing rooms 4,795
% residential with nursing care homes CQC rated Good or Outstanding 72%
Total occupied residential with nursing care rooms (including ECC funded placements) 4,051
Average residential with nursing occupancy % 84%
% of placements that are ECC placements 27%

 

Essex Adult Social Care Market (ECC Funded)  
 Annual nursing spend £48 Million
No. Contracted (IRN Framework) residential with nursing care homes 25
% Contracted (IRN Framework) residential with nursing care homes CQC rated Good or Outstanding 100%
No. of nursing care residents placed by ECC 736
% ECC nursing placements into CQC rated Good or Outstanding care home 71%
Contract Utilisation (% ECC nursing care placements through the IRN Framework) 65%
Average nursing care Length of Stay (Years) 1 year 7 months
Essex Adult Social Care Market - Sourcing  
Average nursing care Contracted IRN Framework) Rate per week £1,073.01
Average nursing care Spot Rate per week £1,182.85
Average new nursing care Contract Placements per month 34
Average new nursing care Spot Placements per month 21

The information shown in the table(s) above is correct as of 1st April 2026.

Information in the above table for sourcing is based on activity between 1st April 2025 and 31st March 2026.

It is essential to be able to source a care home placement, when needed, within a care home that can safely and effectively meet the person’s needs, both in terms of the building design and the care and support provided, in or close to the persons chosen location, and at rates that are affordable.

The number of older people supported to live at home for longer is increasing. This means that the people that do move into a care home are likely to have more complex needs later in life, including complex dementia and nursing care needs. There is a need to secure additional nursing care home provision across Essex to meet this changing need and demand.

It is the ambition of Essex County Council that whenever someone is placed in a care home, it is in a care home that has a Good or Outstanding CQC rating.

Current market risks:

  • There could be an increase in the number of care homes exiting the market due to an increase in costs.
  • The NHS may increase demand for nursing placements from hospital driving up longer term costs for Adult Social Care. Particularly if people  are on a CHC pathway and are then re-assessed into Non CHC pathways.
  • ECC pay closer to / at Cost of Care Rates for nursing care. Please see the Older People Residential and Nursing uplift page.

Our current areas of focus are:

  • Annual refresh of the IRN Framework which can be in place until May 2031.
  • Working with existing residential care homes to be able to meet the needs of older people with more complex needs later in life, including, where possible, transitioning some residential care homes into residential with nursing care homes.
  • Working with existing residential with nursing care homes to, where possible, increase the number of nursing rooms within the care home to meet nursing care demand.
  • Responding to planning applications to help ensure the development of any new proposed care home is in line with forecast need as set out in the Essex Supported and Specialist Housing and Accommodation Need Assessment (2025) (SSHANA) and able to meet the needs of older people with higher levels of complexity later in life, including complex nursing and dementia needs.
Last updated: 01/04/2026
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