Applying for nursing home subvention takes some determination. Even if you are successful, the full payment will not cover half the cost of private nursing home care.

It's important to remember that applications must be made to the local health board by, or on behalf of, the person before his or her admission to a nursing home.

Any person who is admitted to a nursing home before applying for a subvention, except in an emergency, is debarred from claiming a subvention for two years from the date of admission unless the chief executive of the health board decides otherwise. The decision process takes eight weeks.

To qualify for a subvention you must be sufficiently dependent to require nursing home care and unable to pay any or part of the cost of maintenance in the home.

There are three levels of dependency in the subvention system and the applicant has to be assessed by a doctor, nurse, occupational therapist or physiotherapist on behalf of the health board. The health board will look at the person's degree of mobility, ability to dress and feed unaided, extent of orientation and degree of continence, amongst other things.

The three degrees of dependency are medium, high and maximum. The top subvention rates payable at each level are £90, £120 and £150 respectively.

The assessment report is considered by a health board team, which may decide that someone who qualifies for subvention is to be offered accommodation in a nursing home. If they do not offer public accommodation they must decide on the person's level of dependency.

The second part of the application process is the means test. This takes account of the income of the applicant and their spouse or partner.

Means for the purposes of this test are the income and the imputed value of assets of the person and their spouse. You can have a weekly income of £114.60 and £6,000 in savings and get the maximum subvention. Any income above that level is subtracted from the maximum subvention.

Anyone with savings above £20,000 does not qualify for a subvention, and with savings of between £6,000 and £20,000, the health board divides the amount by 52 to work out a weekly income and adds that to the person's income.

The means test also includes the applicant's property if it is not occupied by a spouse, a son or daughter under 21 or in full-time education, or a relative in receipt of any of the following:

Disabled Persons Maintenance Allowance;

Blind Person's Pension;

Disability Benefit;

Invalidity Pension; or

Old Age Non-Contributory Pension.

If the house is not lived in by the spouse or any of the above, the health board may impute an annual income equivalent to 5 per cent of the estimated market value of the property, divide that by 52 and add it to the weekly income of the applicant.

The health board may refuse to pay the subvention if the property is valued at £75,000 or more and the applicant's annual income is £5,000 or more.

The Department of Health is currently examining aspects of the Nursing Home Regulations and subventions including a review of the value placed on the savings and assets of each applicant when calculating means.

Meanwhile, a person applying for a subvention may appeal to the appeals officer of the health board within 28 days of being notified of a decision.