Nursing homes in the UK are increasingly regarded as potential rehabilitation facilities for disabled older people. To determine the current physiotherapy and occupational therapy provision to UK nursing homes. Four hundred private nursing homes in England, Scotland and Wales were selected by stratified proportional random sampling and surveyed by postal questionnaire. The response rate for the effective sample was 346/355 (97%). Only 10% of residents were in current receipt of physiotherapy, mostly through private physiotherapists employed by the nursing homes. Occupational therapy was being provided to only 3.3% of residents. Older people in nursing homes in the UK currently receive little physiotherapy and occupational therapy input and are particularly isolated from National Health Service (NHS) services.