The "postcode lottery" currently faced by elderly people trying to gain free nursing care is set to be addressed today as ministers publish guidance on the issue.

New guidelines will be unveiled by the care service minister, Ivan Lewis, which will detail who will be able to qualify for free care, thereby combating the current imbalance across different local authorities.

The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare has been developed in consultation with voluntary groups, patient groups and professional bodies and is hoped to make procedures quicker, fairer and more transparent.

Mr Lewis comments: "We understand that families do have to make difficult and emotional decisions when someone has to go into residential care and this can be made worse by having to consider how this will be funded."

The Department of Health (DoH) asserts that 31,000 people currently receive NHS continuing care, while 70 per cent of residents in care homes receive funding for their care costs from the government.

At the beginning of the month the DoH claimed that the NHS was in its strongest financial position "for many years", while efforts were ongoing to make its systems fairer and easier to understand.