UNISON has called on the Western Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland to “face up to its responsibilities” after a privately owned care home announced that it will close.
Shannagh Nursing Home in Belleek, County Fermanagh, is expected to close at the end of this month with the loss of 40 jobs. Its 15 residents will have to move out.
UNISON regional organiser Brian Ferguson called on the trust to intervene, saying: “This shows the importance of the statutory residential care homes within our health service.
“The Western trust, along with all other trusts, must now reopen its admission policy. Elderly residents and their families deserve and expect this from the health service.”
He pointed out that “the private sector will always makes its decisions based on economic reasons”.
