UNISON has called on a health board to “kick profit out of care” and move all residents in the private provider’s specialist unit to council or NHS spaces.
It comes after three specialist dementia units were axed at one of HC-One Scotland’s homes in North Lanarkshire.
The units look after elderly people with the most advanced dementia needs at the Hatton Lea Care Home in Bellshill.
A spokesperson for Hatton Lea said the decision was made after it was concluded the care home is “no longer the best option” for residents and its current working agreement with NHS Lanarkshire is “no longer fit for purpose”.
They said the facilities would not be closed until every resident has found suitable alternative care.
A significant number of the 150 beds at Hatton Lea will be lost as a result of HC-One’s decision to end the contract, according to UNISON.
The NHS is now making arrangements to provide the hospital based complex clinical care services in-house rather than contracting to another private provider.
Katrina Murray, Secretary of the Lanarkshire Health Branch of UNISON said: “What is happening here is an example of why private providers should not be providing services funded by the NHS.
“As soon as it is no longer profitable for them, they throw in the towel.
“UNISON as a trade union is strongly opposed to the use of private providers providing public services and in many cases making substantial profits out of public funds.
“There is no place for profiteering out of the needs of vulnerable patients.
“We are fully behind UNISON’s campaign to kick profit out of care and to bring all these privatised services back in-house.
“We are reassured of the plans by NHS Lanarkshire to develop a suitable in-house model to be delivered by NHS Lanarkshire to accommodate the affected patients.
“However, at the same time, some of the patients may no longer need hospital based complex clinical care and will have to be moved to alternative accommodation suitable for their needs and there is a very high possibility this will be in the private, for-profit sector, despite the fact that much of that care will be publicly funded.”
UNISON urged the health board to identify ways that such services could be provided by the public sector to ensure every penny was spent where it was needed.
This includes providing care and paying staff a decent pay rate with no element leaking into the profits of private providers, or to their inflated costs or creative accounting methods which minimised tax liabilities.
The union has written to the local health and social care partnerships outlining their concerns.
NHS Lanarkshire was contacted for comment.
HC-One was contacted for comment.
