Thousands of OAPs face uncertain future as care home giant falters

CONCERN is growing over the fate of thousands of elderly residents as council chiefs insisted contingency plans were in place to look after them if care homes in Scotland have to close.

Southern Cross, which runs 98 homes in Scotland and 753 across the UK, has admitted it is in a "critical financial position", leading some to express fears that sites could close.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) said councils had contingency plans in place to deal with the "disruption of adult care provision", as unions warned that they had failed to get detailed answers as to what would happen in the event of any closures.

And charity Age Scotland said it had received calls from relatives worried about the future of the homes looking after their loved ones. They called for the Scottish Government to intervene in the matter.

But yesterday Southern Cross insisted that there were "no plans for a large-scale closure of homes" and the company was in the process of restructuring its finances. The company is in negotiations with landlords over a reduction in rents as its interim results showed it lost 310 million in the six months to the end of March.

Justin Bowden, national officer for the GMB union, said many questions remained over what happened in the worst case scenario of homes having to close.

He said that UK governments could not just sit back and say this was a commercial matter that needed to be dealt with between commercial parties.

"It is clear some local authorities are making contingency plans, but the degree to which they will need to do that will depend on where they are, how many homes they have got and the density," Mr Bowden said.

"A home closes and it is dreadfully bad. It is proven by academics that moving people kills them, so it should be the last resort."

Local authorities have a duty of care to elderly residents and if a care home fails for any reason, councils have a role in ensuring the welfare of all residents and finding new accommodation.

Douglas Yates, Cosla's health and wellbeing spokesman, said it had convened a contingency planning group to help councils prepare for any unforeseen events which could disrupt care services.

A spokeswoman for Southern Cross said: "Southern Cross Healthcare would like to confirm that it has no plans for a large scale closure of homes. The company is in the early stages of its financial restructuring which it intends to complete at the end of the summer. All stakeholders involved in the process agree that the priority is, and remains, the continuity of care."

David Manion, chief executive of Age Scotland, said: "The situation at Southern Cross is deeply concerning.This is more than a company possibly going into administration - we're talking about thousands of older people across Scotland facing the prospect of losing their home.

"The implications could be severe for both them and their families and that is why Age Scotland would like to see the Scottish Government intervene to resolve the matter."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The top priority for all concerned is that the older people living in Southern Cross homes continue receiving the best possible care. Through Cosla and the Association of Directors of Social Work, we are in close touch with councils, who are directly responsible for the care of older people, and we know that is their ultimate priority."