North East care home company HC-One is putting 52 homes up for sale as part of a major restructure.
The Darlington-based business is also set to close four homes as part of its plans “to better meet the current and future care needs of the communities it serves”.
The firm’s CEO said the homes – 16% of its 328 strong portfolio with 14,000 residents – are in areas where it feels a local operator can better serve the needs of its residents, and that it will only strike a deal when it feels it has found the right business to take on those locations.
James Tugendhat, HC-One’s chief executive, said: “Our purpose, as The Kind Care Company, is to support those in our care to lead their best life, and serve at the heart of each of our communities.
“We strive to be the first choice for our families, our colleagues and our commissioners, and best meet the evolving care needs of the country, including the growing demand for more complex care and dementia care.
“As we plan how best to use our resources to continuously improve our care homes, we are determined to invest where we can have the greatest impact and more effectively ready ourselves for the evolving needs of those we care for.
“As a result, we are putting 52 of our homes up for sale in areas where we feel our communities would be better served by a local operator in conjunction with other local services. We are also proposing to close 4 homes. In both cases, we will work closely with our local partners and commissioners.
“Whilst we have chosen to make this announcement now, having determined our investment priorities, our sales and four closures will only happen when we are convinced that we have found the right alternative operator, and when residents are able to safely move to their new care placement, ensuring continuity of care throughout the pandemic.”
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Mr Tugendhat said the company would provide support to its colleagues to make the processes as smooth as possible for them, and that it will be business as usual for every home until all the processes are complete.
The full list of locations affected has yet to be published, but it has been reported that 10 are in Scotland.
As part of its plans the firm has also announced a refurbishment programme.
In 2017 HC-One acquired Helen McArdle Care, at the time the largest independent care home operator in the region, in an undisclosed deal which added all 19 North East homes to the portfolio. Later that year it also snapped up122 homes from Bupa.
Rachel Harrison, GMB national officer, said the sale highlighted gaps in the national care system which must be acted upon by the Government.
She said: “The Government has failed to deal with the problems in the social care system over years with the Covid pandemic revealing the yawning cracks in the system from years of Government neglect.
“This announcement that one of our biggest social care providers is having to sell off and transfer care homes during the biggest public health crisis in our lifetimes just shows how broken the current system is – maybe even on the verge of collapse.
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“The appalling lack of Government strategy has led to thousands more staff and residents facing another crisis, with their futures uncertain while providers try and move the deck chairs and paper over the cracks in the absence of a plan.
“Government Ministers have promised reform, calling for better integration with our health and public services, but we need more than just words and a promise of bringing forward reforms in the far-off future we need the details of the plan and action now.
“GMB members and residents in HC-One are now waiting to hear what their future is. Never before has a properly funded National Care Service been so important.”