NHS chiefs watch care at ex-Southern Cross homes

 HEALTH bosses say they are keeping a close eye on care home residents after Britain’s largest care home provider almost collapsed amid financial turmoil.

Southern Cross, which got into serious financial difficulties, operated six care homes in Worcestershire but the company was ditched by its landlords because of rising rent bills and lower levels of occupancy.

The company was ordered to return control of all of its homes to the landlords and a deadline of August 1 was set to appoint new operators.

Southern Cross managed 750 care homes nationally. The care homes in the county affected are Henwick Grange and Red Hill Court in Worcester; Ravenstone in Droitwich; Bowood Court and Bowood Mews in Redditch; and Bryden House in Kidderminster.

The company was responsible for 315 people in Worcestershire alone.

The situation was discussed at a meeting of NHS Worcestershire when Howard Eeles, a former councillor and shadow governor for the Worcestershire acute hospitals trust, asked the board of directors what steps were being taken to make sure safeguards were in place to protect the welfare of care home residents.

Karen Hunter, head of quality and patient safety at NHS Worcestershire, said: “Locally, there’s good communication between each of the homes, the local authority and the primary care trust to ensure the smooth transition of that ownership to minimise any disruption for patients and their families. Each of the homes locally is being monitored on a weekly basis.

“Both ourselves and the county council continue to monitor and review the care of those residents for whom we are responsible in all care homes, whether in the county or out of county.”

As previously reported in your Worcester News, new operators have been found for all six care homes in the county.

Original article: http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/9258789.NHS_chiefs_watch_care_at_ex_Southern_Cross_homes/

Added 20th September 2011