A giant social care charity says it cannot guarantee jobs will not be lost after it decided to withdraw from more than a dozen care homes and retirement communities.
MHA, which raised £250m last year and employs more than 6,000 people, said it hoped staff would be able to continue work under new providers but admitted that jobs may go if the homes closed permanently.
The charity has promised to help employees find new jobs at MHA or elsewhere if this happens.
MHA is selling eight of its care homes in England and Wales and is withdrawing services from another two properties owned by local authorities, according to a statement today.
It is also selling two care homes and three retirement schemes in Scotland after MHA Auchlochan, a charity subsidiary owned by MHA, was placed into administration.
The charity ran 89 care homes, 70 retirement living communities and 50 hubs in 2021/22, according to its most recent annual report.
MHA said that the money raised from selling the homes would be reinvested into its services. The charity did not respond to queries from Third Sector about how much it hoped the sales could generate.
Charity leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent years about the financial challenges facing social care, arguing that inadequate funding and over-stretched staff has left the sector “teetering on a precipice”.
One major care provider spent £1m from its reserves in 2021 just to cover sick leave for staff with Covid-19.
Writing about the charity’s financial position in the 2021/22 accounts, Sam Monaghan, chief executive of MHA, said: “In line with other providers, increasing costs of energy and general price rises are starting to have an effect on finances and we have had to increase fees and charges more than we would have liked to in 2022/23 to accommodate these.
“In addition, many of the government funds we relied on over the past two years [during the pandemic] are ending, placing increased pressures on us.”
The decision to withdraw services was announced after MHA completed a long-running review of its work, which began in 2019 but was delayed by Covid-19.
Monaghan said today: “As a result of the review, we identified the real challenges for MHA in ensuring the ongoing sustainability of the 10 homes [in England and Wales] and Auchlochan and that MHA could no longer support these.
“Without Auchlochan, it would be too difficult for MHA to continue supporting the three retirement living schemes [elsewhere] in Scotland.”
He added: “When a buyer [for the properties] is found the new owner will take responsibility for the home, including residents and colleagues.
“If, however, in the unfortunate situation that a buyer can’t be secured, I can’t rule out the possibility of some closures.
“It is anticipated that, where possible, homes will start to transfer to new owners by early 2024. Affected staff at these homes will be given the opportunity to transfer to the new provider under the formal legal process known as TUPE regulations.
“If we find ourselves having to close any care homes, we will support residents and their families to find new homes and affected staff to find new roles inside MHA, if there are any suitable opportunities and people want to stay with us, or help them to find a new job elsewhere.”
Monaghan said: “These are not decisions we have taken easily. They have had to be made so that MHA continues to be a healthy and vibrant charity, providing quality care and support, now and into the future.”