News, data and analysis for the UK care sector

UK Government/ Labour Party

Labour Party unveils radical reforms roadmap for ‘National Care Service’

8 June 2023

The Labour Party has unveiled further details of a proposed National Care Service which would be implemented if it wins the next General Election in 2024. If fully adopted, the proposals would have wide-ranging consequences for care providers.

CQC

CQC strengthens board with non-exec appointments

5 June 2023

Christine Asbury, Dr Mark Chakravarty and Dr Ali Hasan have joined the Care Quality Commission’s Board as non-executive directors.

Market/ Specialist Care

Phoenix Learning secures £20m loan from OakNorth to grow portfolio

3 May 2023

Phoenix Learning and Care, a provider of specialist education and residential care for children and young adults backed by Ashridge Capital, has secured a £20m loan from OakNorth Bank to fund further growth.

Market/ Technology

LSE-listed diagnostics firm Medica in potential £269m take-private deal

27 April 2023

Medica, the teleradiology and diagnostics firm listed on the London Stock Exchange, is the target of an all-cash, £269m take-private approach by the private equity group IK Partners.

Market/ Specialist Care

National Care Group Acquires Nexus Support

24 April 2023

National Care Group has acquired Nexus-Support, an established local specialist accommodation and support provider, based in Basildon, Essex.

UK Government/ Policy

Meyer to head up Older People’s Housing Taskforce

17 April 2023

Julienne Meyer, an expert in care for older people, will chair the Older People’s Housing Taskforce, spearheading work to support the growth of the older people’s housing sector across the UK.

Policy/ Dementia

ONS data shows dementia and Alzheimer’s leading cause of death

12 April 2023

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed ‘dementia and Alzheimer’s disease’ were the leading cause of death in 2022. Collectively they accounted for 65,967 deaths (11.4% of the total), up from 61,250 (10.4%) in 2021.

Market/ Specialist Care

Liaise acquires eight LD homes in East Anglia from Jeesal

12 April 2023

Liaise, formerly Sequence Care, has acquired eight homes in East Anglia for people with learning disabilities and complex needs from Jeesal Residential Care Services Group.

Market/ Specialist Care

Zero Three Care specialist care group acquired by Montreux’s Sky Care

22 March 2023

Zero Three Care, a 76-bed specialist care provider for younger adults with learning disabilities has been sold by its founders to Sky Care Homes, part of the Montreux Healthcare financial group.

UK Government/ Policy

Streeting signals new quality and financial tests to care home operators

15 March 2023

Wes Streeting, the shadow health and social care secretary, has signalled a tough new quality, value-for-money and financial stability regime to care home operators, to be introduced if Labour wins the next election.

Finance/ Residential & Nursing Care

RMBI Care Co enters bond market to raise £10m

8 March 2023

RMBI Care Co, which operates 17 care and nursing homes with 1,025 beds across the UK, has raised £10m in funds from a charity Sustainable Bond with a coupon of 6.25%.

Market/ Hospitals

Fortius Clinic acquires Schoen Clinic in day hospital consolidation

4 March 2023

Fortius Clinic, the UK’s largest orthopaedic MSK group, is to acquire Schoen Clinic London, a state-of-the-art orthopaedic hospital in central London.

Market/ Residential & Nursing Care

Lovett Care acquires three care homes from Angela Swift Developments

3 March 2023

Lovett Care, the residential and nursing care home operator, has acquired three purpose-built care homes in North Yorkshire and the North West from Angela Swift Developments.

UK Government/ SEND

Government unveils plans for 33 new SEND schools across England

2 March 2023

Children and young people across England with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision (AP) will benefit from places at 33 new special schools, to be build across England, the government announced today.

Market/ Residential & Nursing Care

CareConcepts acquires Manchester care home

17 February 2023

CareConcepts, the care home operator in the North West, has acquired a further 79-bed home in Wythenshawe, Manchester.

Market/ Specialist Care

Elysium Healthcare acquires Regis to bolster presence in Wales

25 September 2022

Elysium Healthcare, the specialist learning disability and neurological care provider, has acquired Regis Healthcare, a specialist care provider in Wales and the Midlands.

DHSC/ UK Government

Coffey unveils £500m Social Care grant to ease NHS bed blocking

22 September 2022

Therese Coffey, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has unveiled a £500m package to help ease discharge of patients from ‘blocked’ NHS beds into Social Care settings.

Market/ Residential & Nursing Care

Aedifica acquires Bedfordshire care home in £13.5m deal

15 September 2022

Aedifica, the Belgian listed REIT, has acquired a care home development to be operated by Maria Mallaband Care Group in Bedfordshire in a £13.5m transaction.

DHSC/ UK Government

Truss appoints new Ministerial team at DHSC

8 September 2022

Liz Truss MP, the newly-appointed Prime Minister, has appointed a raft of new ministers at the DHSC, under Therese Coffey MP as the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Market/ Residential & Nursing Care

Oaknorth funds My Choice to acquire two care homes in Wales

9 August 2022

OakNorth Bank has provided a £4.2m loan to My Choice Healthcare Group to refinance debt and to acquire two care homes in Swansea, south Wales.

UK Government/ Social Care Reforms

DHSC launches consultation on funding for ASC charging reforms

9 August 2022

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has launched a six-week long consultation on the distribution of funding to support its proposed reforms of Adult Social Care, including the lifetime cap on care costs.

Market/ Residential & Nursing Care

Simply UK creates Portland Care after Horizon acquisition

1 August 2022

Simply UK, the real estate developer, has created Portland Care as a new care home brand following the acquisition of six care homes from Horizon Care Group.

Market/ Residential & Nursing Care

Anchor acquires 11 care home portfolio from Halcyon Care

29 July 2022

Anchor, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of care and housing for older people, has acquired Halcyon Care Homes, with a portfolio of 11 care homes in the East Midlands and the South of England.

Finance/ Market

General Catalyst funds Lottie care home comparison platform at £45m valuation

25 July 2022

Lottie, the care home comparison platform, has raised £6m development capital valuing the company at £45m.

UK Government/ Policy

Health Select Committee report warns of workforce crisis in Social Care

25 July 2022

The cross-party Health and Social Care Committee, chaired by Jeremy Hunt MP, has warned of ‘inadequate’ planning to avoid a workforce crisis in social care in a report published today.

Market/ Residential & Nursing Care

Wood Care refinances to acquire Salford care home

21 July 2022

Oldham-based Wood Care Group has secured a refinancing package to acquire a care home in Salford, Greater Manchester.

Market/ Residential & Nursing Care

Octopus partners with Anavo Group for two care homes

15 July 2022

Octopus Real Estate will acquire two care homes, with a total of 126 beds, in Cheshire and West Sussex, in an operator partnership with Anavo Group.

Social Care Reforms/ UK Government

DHSC to phase 18(3) implementation for care providers and Local Authorities

11 July 2022

The Department of Health and Social Care has amended its proposed implementation of legislation to allow self-funders to access care at the Local Authority rate, phasing the policy and delaying its application to existing care home residents.

Residential & Nursing Care/ Market

Four Seasons to sell 100+ care homes in England and Scotland

5 July 2022

Four Seasons Health Care Group is to sell 111 of its portfolio of 131 care homes, with a total of around 6,000 beds, comprising the bulk of its residual freehold assets.

Market / Policy

Labour hires Fabian Society to develop National Care Service roadmap

4 July 2022

The Labour Party has tasked the Fabian Society, a London-based think tank, with developing a radical roadmap for its proposed National Care Service, in a study to be delivered by the end of 2022.

Market/ Residential & Nursing Care

Gwynedd Council votes for 25% increase in nursing care fees

1 July 2022

Gwynedd Council, in north west Wales, has voted for substantial increases in weekly fees paid to care providers for residential EMI, nursing EMI and nursing fees.

Market/ Retirement Living

Octopus in £200m JV with Pension Insurance Corp for retirement villages

30 June 2022

Pension Insurance Corporation, a specialist insurer of defined benefit pension schemes, is to invest up to £200m in equity to fund the development of up to 10 new retirement communities in a joint venture with Octopus Real Estate.

Residential & Nursing Care/ Market

Sanctuary acquires 16 care homes from Cornwall Care

29 June 2022

Sanctuary Housing, the housing association, has acquired up to 16 homes with 645 beds, under a takeover of Cornwall Care, Cornwall’s largest provider of care.

Demographics

ONS Data shows rise in older people in England and Wales

28 June 2022

The results of the ONS census in March 2021 show that nearly one in five people in England and Wales are aged 65 and above, the highest proportion ever recorded and confirming continuing pressures on adult social care provision.

Specialist Care/ Market

CareTech in take-private deal with founders Sheikh brothers

27 June 2022

CareTech, the specialist social care provider, is to be delisted from the London Stock Exchange in a £1.2bn deal led by the Amalfi consortium assembled by founders Haroon and Farouq Sheikh.

Social Care Reforms

LGA survey flags concerns on Social Care reforms of funding and workforce

27 June 2022

The Local Government Association (LGA) has reported that many councils do not have confidence that government funding for upcoming social care reforms is sufficient.

Residential & Nursing Care/ Market

Council steps in to invest in Cheshire care homes

14 June 2022

In a sign of fragility in the care provider market which is leading councils to assume ownership of failing care homes, a Cheshire council will invest in four care homes which it acquired following heightened risk of closure.

CQC/ Children's Care

Ofsted, CQC launch consultation on SEND inspections

13 June 2022

Ofsted and CQC have launched a consultation on proposals for a new joint framework for inspecting provision for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) within a local area. The new inspections will be introduced in early 2023.

Market / Cancer Care

Apposite Provides New Capital to Mirada Medical

9 June 2022

Apposite Capital, the healthcare private equity investor, has made a further investment in Mirada Medical, which develops precision imaging software and image guided tools for cancer care. The new capital brings total investment in Mirada since Apposite first invested in 2019 to £16m.

Market/ Finance

Downing Provides Development Funding to Country Court

8 June 2022

Downing, the investment manager, has agreed an inaugural £7.6m funding facility to support Country Court, the operator and developer of care homes.

Market / Cancer Care

Cancer Diagnostics Firm Rutherford Goes into Administration

7 June 2022

Rutherford Health, which operates a network of cancer and diagnostic centres in the UK and pioneered the use of proton beam therapy, has made an application to go into liquidation.

Market/ Residential & Nursing Care

Impact in £25m Care Home Deal with Welford

7 June 2022

Impact Healthcare REIT, the quoted care home investor, has acquired three care homes in Somerset and Devon for £25m, partnering with Welford Healthcare as the incoming tenant operator.

Executive Moves

Jones Appointed Anchor CEO Following Ashcroft Departure

7 June 2022

Jane Ashcroft, longstanding CEO of Anchor, the leading care and retirement housing operator, is to step down after 12 years in the role and will be succeeded by the current CFO Sarah Jones.

Market/ Children's Care

Orbis Education & Care Acquires Sunlight Education Nucleus

24 May 2022

Orbis Education & Care, provider of specialist education and care for children and young adults, has acquired Sunlight Education Nucleus (SEN) from Puma Private Equity.

Policy/ Children's Care

MacAlister Report Highlights Reforms to Children’s Social Care

23 May 2022

Recommendations made in a wide-ranging, independent review of children’s social care has prompted a series of government measures to create new Family Hubs and boost local authorities’ efforts to recruit more foster carers.

Finance/ Retirement Living

Cheyne Backs Lifestory with £90m Development Loans

18 May 2022

Cheyne Capital, the real estate lender, has provided loan facilities totalling £90m to Lifestory, the developer of independent later living communities, for a series of new developments.

Market/ Retirement Living

Audley Acquires Third Surrey Retirement Village Site

17 May 2022

Audley Group, the retirement village developer-operator, has acquired a third Surrey site, for a proposed 150-unit development, to add to its existing portfolio.

Market/ Neuro Rehabilitation

Indian Hospital Group Jupiter to Enter UK Neuro Rehab Market

17 May 2022

Jupiter LifeLine Hospitals, a large Indian hospital operator, is to establish a state of the art, 100-bed neurological rehabilitation facility in the UK.

Policy/ Residential & Nursing Care

ADASS Reports Long Waits for Care Assessments

13 May 2022

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) has found that more than half a million people are now waiting for an adult social care assessment, for care or a direct payment to begin or for a review of their care.

Market/ Residential & Nursing Care

Aedifica Adds Care Home Site to Ireland Portfolio

12 May 2022

Aedifica, the Belgian listed REIT, has acquired a care home site in Dunshaughlin, County Meath, Ireland, for the development of a 96-bed home to be operated by Grace Healthcare.