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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY M. TADIER OF ST. BRELADE
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 28th SEPTEMBER 2010
Question
"Is the Minister satisfied that the Highlands Residential Home or its parent company, the Four Seasons Group are in a secure financial situation to fulfil their obligations to the Health and Social Services Department and what enquiries, if any, has the Minister made to determine this is the case?"
Answer
In order to provide some context to the Deputy of St Brelade's question, it is important to note that the Four Seasons Health Care Group is the third largest commercial provider of care homes in the United Kingdom (UK).
The Group operates approximately 16,730 beds within 420 care homes. 80% of their clients are funded by UK Local Health Authorities and the National Health Service. This provides a solid business base. In addition, the Group owns 68% of the homes it operates which gives it a strong asset base. The Group also enjoys a reputation better than the industry average for the quality of its homes, where 84.5% of the homes are classified as good or excellent.
As far as Jersey is concerned the Group operates three homes namely Silver Springs, La Haule and Highlands, all of which enjoy a good reputation for the quality of care provided and they continue to fulfil their obligations to the Health and Social Services Department.
The department is fully aware of the financial situation of Four Seasons Health Care Group as a result of its financial due diligence processes. This is a staged process whereby a financial picture of a third party organisation is built up through review of local accounts to group accounts and if felt necessary the purchase of an independent Dunn & Bradstreet (D&B) comprehensive finance risk report.
In the case of the Four Seasons healthcare group the D&B report indicated a high risk of business failure which led to exchanges with the group's Commercial Director and ultimately to a meeting with him and senior officers of my department in May 2010.
I would want to assure the Deputy and the House that my Department has and will continue to monitor the financial situation facing the Group balanced against the risk of delayed discharge in the hospital and the lack of suitable alternative provision for this client group on the Island.