Takeover Saves Two Yorkshire Care Homes

Online, January 18, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Two care homes in West Yorkshire will continue to provide a service to the elderly and infirm thanks to them being taken over by a newly-formed company.

P&C care Ltd's move to purchase the Ivy Nursing Home in Shipley and The Mount Nursing Home in Bolton Woods, Bradford, will also safeguard 84 jobs.

Patrick Berry, who is a qualified nurse with 17 years experience working for the NHS, and his wife Catherine, who has worked in finance and administration for nursing homes, will manage both of the 40-bed properties.

Mr Berry said: "Having spent most of our lives working in the care home sector, we are passionate about providing the very best for our clients.

"We look forward to continuing to operate these homes to a high standard and building on their excellent reputation and business success, as well as expanding and acquiring further homes in the future."

The purchases were made possible thanks to multi-million pound funding from National Westminister Bank and support from Reward Capital.

The news comes shortly after the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, announced a scheme which will see £150 million each invested into caring for the elderly

A surprising number of people are paying for their own care in later life privately, according to new data.

Research by Laing & Buisson found that there has been a gradual but consistent decline in the number of people who qualify for state support.

In England in 2011, 41 per cent of care home residents, accounting for 159,000 people were responsible for paying for their own care.

If 'quasi private payers' who pay top up fees on top of what their local council pays were taken into consideration then this figure increased to 55 per cent.

Commenting on the findings, report author William Laing said that those who pay for their care privately and those who are state funded are experiencing very different market conditions.

"Within the state paid sector, most councils froze their baseline fee rates in the face of swingeing cuts in central government funding," he said.

"In contrast, the private pay market continues to bear significant fee increases."

Research from consumer site Which? recently highlighted that care in the UK is a postcode lottery, with many councils being advised to make their criteria for care needs more stringent.