Recruitment struggle prompts care home closures

Two care homes in Staffordshire say they are to close after struggling to recruit staff.

Maple Court and Maple Lodge can house a maximum of about 80 residents across the two sites in Rowley Park.

In July 2021, Maple Court had an unannounced inspection by the independent regulator of health and adult social care, the Care and Quality Commission, and was deemed to “require improvement” in all areas.

Maple Lodge was rated as “good” in its most recent inspection in 2020.

A spokeswoman for HC One, which runs the sites, said: “Despite our best efforts, and the investment of significant time and resource, for some time now we have struggled to build and retain a full care team at Maple Court, including crucial home leadership and nursing colleagues.

“Without these essential team members, it is becoming increasingly difficult to continue to sustain the levels of care at Maple Court that our residents rightly deserve. Due to the two homes sharing a site and critical facilities, this will significantly impact the service we provide at Maple Lodge, which cannot operate independently of Maple Court.

“Against the backdrop of sector-wide recruitment challenges and increasingly complex care requirements, we have carefully considered how these external factors are impacting the future of the care that we will be able to provide at the site shared by our Maple Court and Maple Lodge homes.”

HC One said it would only close the homes once every resident had found suitable alternative care.