Council steps in to save Chadderton care home from closure

Bosses in Oldham have stepped in to save a specialist care home looking after a hundred vulnerable residents after it went into administration.

Oldham council has confirmed it has purchased the Chadderton Total Care nursing home, on Middleton Road, after it faced a ‘significant risk of closure’.

The authority says this would have put the jobs of 200 staff at risk, and also meant that around 100 residents – many with complex needs requiring specialist nursing care – would have to be relocated, likely outside of the borough.

The owner of Chadderton Total Care, which had been facing financial difficulties reflective of ‘challenging times’ across the entire health and care sector, has now gone into administration.

Oldham’s cabinet met in private earlier this month to discuss an item on ‘adult health care/nursing care provision’, where the decision to purchase the home was made.

It will now be run by a new registered company, Oldham Total Care, which is wholly owned by the council.

Council leader Arooj Shah said it was ‘not a decision we’ve taken lightly’ but that the alternative not to have intervene would be have been ‘cruel’ to both staff and residents.

Cabinet member for health and social care, Councillor Barbara Brownridge, said: “This is a very challenging time for the health and care industry as a result of rising inflation and energy costs and staffing pressures which significantly affect how care homes can operate.

“This is the second largest care home that provides nursing care in the borough and its closure would affect hundreds of people who we have a duty to protect.

“In addition, the need for nursing care would put increased pressure on the NHS and meant that it would be more difficult to discharge patients from hospital because of the shortage of beds.

“It was, therefore, ethically and legally right to take steps to allow the continued operation of this home so that staff and residents would experience as little disruption as possible.

“The staff have done an excellent job and we thank them for their efforts during this difficult time.”

The authority says that since Chadderton Total Care offers specialist nursing provision, its closure would have led to increased pressure on the NHS as more elderly and vulnerable patients would be left unable to be discharged into suitable accommodation.

An inspection by the Care Quality Commission in February, published in April, rated the home as ‘requires improvement’ overall.

Coun Shah said: “Keeping people employed and vulnerable residents safe is our priority here so I’m glad that we’ve been able to make that happen.

“But there is a wider issue that we have had to work quickly to prevent, and this is the risk to NHS care in Oldham.

"The NHS is already struggling, and a complete closure of Chadderton Total Care would have undoubtedly created a bed blocking situation.

“Acquiring the home is not a decision we’ve taken lightly but the alternative was cruel, with job losses for hardworking staff, vulnerable people being forced to move and the wider risk to patient care in Oldham.

"We’ve taken this action to make sure this doesn’t happen.”

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