200 elderly face uncertain future

MORE than 200 elderly people at Warrington face an uncertain future following the announcement by Southern Cross Healthcare that is closing down.
But Warrington Borough Council has given an assurance to the residents of three Southern Cross care home in the borough that continuity of care will not be compromised.
The three homes in Warrington are St Oswalds, Winwick, Callands Road, Callands and Three Bridges, Latchford.
Between them the three homes have more than 200 beds and employ more than 200 people.
The council’s assurance followed a demand from Warrington North MP Helen Jones (pictured) for an urgent statement from the council about the future of the homes operated by Southern Cross in the borough.
She said: “I have contacted the chief executive of the council to demand information about what the closure of Southern Cross will mean for the care homes in Warrington.
“Residents and their families will rightly be very anxious and they deserve to know what the council will be doing to ensure that continuity of care is secured.”
“When the problems with Southern Cross Healthcare first came to light I met with the chief executive of the council to seek information about the contingency plans that were in place should the worst happen and the company failed.
“I was not reassured that the council fully understood the seriousness of the situation then. I hope that now the council appreciates the gravity of the situation as residents and their families will be very anxious.”
Southern Cross’ announcement indicated the company was ceasing to operate care homes, after the landlords owning their 752 homes across the country decided they wished to leave the group.
The borough council said they would like to assure residents and their families that a robust contingency plan was in place and that continuity of care would not be compromised.
Steve Reddy, assistant director for adult social care at the council said:
“In recent months we have worked with the Southern Cross, the managers of the local homes and their landlords, as well as with the local NHS to develop contingency plans should Southern Cross no longer be able to provide quality care services in Warrington.
“These plans have been shared with regional bodies and have received support for their robustness. The plans detail several options available to us should the worst occur, however, we will continue to work proactively with all partners, communicate with residents and their families and assess the best way forward in the light of the most accurate and up to date information available.”
The GMB union has claimed that more than half the Southern Cross care homes taken back by landlords are owned by companies based outside the UK – mainly in tax havens.
GMB said 336 homes are owned by companies outside the UK, with 325 of them registered in tax havens. A total of 199 are registered in the Cayman Islands, 43 in Guernsey, 41 in Gibraltar, 39 in Jersey, four in British Virgin Islands, and one in the Isle of Man.

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