17,000 elderly at risk as care home giant teeters on brink

A DEBT-RIDDEN care home chain with around 17,000 vulnerable residents is on the brink of collapse.

Four Seasons Health Care could be tipped into administration within nine days if it misses a £ 6million interest payment due on December 15.

Its owner, private equity firm Terra Firma, and key lender, the US hedge fund H/ Capital Partners, have yet to agree a rescue deal as the deadline looms.

Four Seasons has warned it may not be able to make the payment and has offered a new restructuring plan. The crisis raises fears of a repeat of the collapse of Southern Cross, which put 31,000 people at risk when it went bust in 011. It also comes amid huge concern about debt and underfunding across the care home sector.

As well as its residents across 360 homes, Four Seasons has 5,000 employees and hundreds of agency staff.

Last night calls were made for the sides to get on with a rescue deal and for the Government to step in. Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP and former minister of state for care, said: ‘I would say to both sides, get your act together.

‘It’s intolerable to be fighting in this way when people are potentially at risk. You entered this sector, you have got to demonstrate that you are fit and proper for the role.

‘The government cannot simply say it’s not our responsibility. They have to be willing and able in a crisis to step in to protect very vulnerable people – that has to be the bottom line.’

Health watchdog the Care Quality Commission said: ‘We continue to closely monitor developments.’