Second private firm walks away from dementia homes

Bloomcare has given notice to end its contract to run Brushwood and Milvina House care homes

A care company has pulled out of running two dementia homes, forcing a council to step in.

Bloomcare has said it will stop running the 60-bed Brushwood and Milvina House care homes in Liverpool in July.

The homes' original operators pulled out in 2021.

Liverpool Council said the "exceptional circumstance" of its ownership of the buildings meant it would take them on.

'Through the roof'

The two dementia care services were opened in October 2019 as the first council-commissioned care homes in the city in more than 25 years.

Their first operator, Shaw Healthcare, left after two years, citing the financial impact of the covid pandemic.

The council said it will run Brushwood, in Speke, and Milvina, in Everton, on an interim basis.

Mr Robinson told the BBC: "If we didn't take this action and those homes were to close, we would actually lose a number of really important beds that are vital for the wider health system to allow people to come out of hospital."

He said the services had "not been run as well as they could have been" and the council would look at trying to "rectify" any issues in the short term.

Mr Robinson said the council had not decided whether to run the homes for the long term or bring another company in.

"It's characteristic of the problems in social services right across the country, and the way that costs have gone through the roof, at the same time that demand has obviously significantly increased", he added.

Liverpool Council said that staff will be able to transfer over when it becomes the registered owner of the homes, and that talks with trade unions had started.

Bloomcare has been contacted for comment.