The owner of a Sheffield-based care home provider has announced the closure of the group’s only nursing home, describing the move as the "hardest decision" of his 30-year career in care.

Fulwood Lodge Care Home, on Fulwood Road, Ranmoor, Sheffield, will sadly close the doors to its 40-bed home which currently offers residential nursing and dementia care. Roy Young, whose group Silver Healthcare runs Fulwood and two other Sheffield homes, shared the news with staff and residents on Monday 30th September.

Roy has assured relatives that the seamless relocation of all residents is his top priority and he is working closely with social services and the NHS on the transition.

Silver Healthcare's two other homes, Rosebank and Leahyrst, are unaffected by the closure. These homes specialise in dementia care and have substantially lower running costs as they don't require registered nurses.

Roy Young said: "This is undoubtedly the hardest decision I have ever had to make in my 30 years in care. Government cuts, increased staff wages, agency costs and reducing local authority budgets have made the future of the home unsustainable.

"Care providers have had to deal with increasing expenditures year on year, making the future of many homes unmanageable.

"The last two years have been the most stressful and financially challenging of my career, and I have ploughed a considerable amount of personal funding into Fulwood Lodge in a bid to keep it open and maintain the highest standards of care possible.

"My decision to close the home is purely a financial one, it has nothing to do with how the home is being run. Fulwood is rated ‘Good' with the CQC, employs a good manager, a good deputy manager and a good staff team throughout.”

Silver Healthcare has confirmed that any vacant positions at its other two homes will be offered to Fulwood Lodge staff as a priority. It will also be working very closely with Sheffield Job Centre to assist all staff members in finding new positions as quickly as possible.

Additionally, staff will be provided with further support in the shape of a CV-writing service; assistance in finding new roles within the area; benefits advice; job references; and redundancy payments to all qualifying staff.

www.silver-healthcare.co.uk