Tag Archives: care homes

Eighteen Northern Ireland care homes saved from closure

Health Minister Edwin Poots confirmed that the homes would stay open

Josie McCann and her mother Letty, Josie McCann and her mother, Letty, are delighted at the news

All 18 NHS care homes in Northern Ireland that were earmarked for closure are to remain open while residents want to stay in them.

Health Minister Edwin Poots confirmed that the homes would stay open in a letter to the Stormont health committee seen by the BBC.

The closures had been announced last year as part of the Transforming Your Care health review.

Care homes’ finances could face inspection

Care home companies would have to open up their books to inspectors to ensure they were financially sound, under government plans for new regulation.

The measure is included in plans being put out to consultation after the collapse of Southern Cross last year.

The country’s biggest provider had thousands of elderly residents at more than 750 care homes across the UK.

Care Minister Norman Lamb said its demise showed the need for “greater oversight of providers’ finances”.

Rent bill

There had been concerns about Southern Cross’s business model for years and it struggled to balance the books as local authorities reduced the amounts they were spending on social care.

What is the future for Care Homes?

What’s the future of care homes?
Vern Pitt
Wednesday 06 April 2011 10:57

Care homes are struggling to come to terms with fewer local authority contracts and politicians’ preference for independent living. How can the sector respond, asks Vern Pitt

The country’s biggest residential care provider, Southern Cross Healthcare, last month ran into serious financial trouble raising fears that similar problems could spread through the sector.