The financial problems of one of the UK’s largest care providers poses a ‘credible risk of service disruption’ to the local provision of social care, regulators have said.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) warned on Monday that Allied Healthcare, one of the largest home care providers in England, could go bust next month.
This would affect 84 local authorities which have contracted the company to provide care in their areas.
Allied Healthcare announced it was applying for a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) in April this year to restructure its debts.
The CQC, the independent regulator of health and social care in England, has said that the provider is able to confirm funding for services until 30 November 2018.
However, the regulator said they had not received ‘adequate assurance’ that there would be any funding after this date.
‘We have encouraged Allied Healthcare to provide us with a realistic financially backed plan to support the future sustainability of the business, and given them every opportunity to do so, but they have failed to provide adequate assurance regarding future funding,’ said Andrea Sutcliffe, chief inspector of adult social care at the CQC.
‘It is now CQC’s legal duty to notify those local authorities where Allied Healthcare is contracted to deliver home care services, that we consider there to be a credible risk of service disruption.’
A spokesperson for Allied Healthcare said they were ‘surprised and deeply disappointed’ by the CQC’s decision which they characterised as ‘premature and unwarranted.’
‘We have demonstrated throughout our discussions with the regulator that Allied Healthcare’s operations are sustainable and safe, that we have secured a potential replacement of our credit facility, that there is no risk to continuity of care and that we have a long-term business plan in place that will continue to deliver quality care across the UK,’ the spokesperson said.
‘The CQC has disregarded these assurances in spite of the robust evidence we have provided.’
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