How we are monitoring developments with Southern Cross

The financial problems facing the country’s largest care home operator Southern Cross have been widely covered in the media in recent weeks. Inevitably, the focus moved from finance to what happens to people using services if the company fails to considerations of the quality of care provided.
Channel 4 News and ITV News have both covered the story, as have the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Express, Sunday Times, Daily Mail and Observer, among others.

We have been asked for a great deal of detailed information both about the company’s performance as a whole and about individual homes it runs. We have dealt with these as we would requests for information about any provider.


Our starting point for any response is to say that our primary concern is always the safety and welfare of people who use services. Our role is to ensure all care homes meet essential standards of quality and safety.

If the situation arises with this, or any other provider, where a home needs to close, we would work closely with local partners to ensure the best outcomes for the people using the service concerned.

At a strategic level, we have been in regular contact with the company, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Department of Health in order to monitor developments.
We have assured everyone concerned that if there need to be changes in relation to the registration of any Southern Cross services – for example if some transfer to other providers – we will make sure, as far as we are able to within the law, that the need to re-register does not affect the continuity of care for the people using those services.

Source: http://www.cqc.org.uk/newsandevents/newsletter/southerncross.cfm