Socialist Party Wales Socialism In Wales
Peniel Care Home in Carmarthenshire has declared that it is going into liquidation leaving residents and care workers high and dry. Carmarthenshire Unison branch has issued this statement:
“Our members and other staff working at Peniel Care Home have been informed at short notice that the care home, where in some cases they have worked for many years, is to cease trading and is going into liquidation apparently claiming they are over a million pounds in debt. We say ‘claim’ because the waters are very murky when it comes to who owns the company that owned the care home and where the profits have gone.
“Carmarthenshire County Council have tried to identify the owners who left vulnerable residents without a home and owing staff pay and redundancy pay and have to date not been able to do so.
“While the owners, who ever they are, have left a trail of devastation in their wake they won’t be liable for the costs and they will be free to set up another company or use another company they own to make a nice profit at the expense of staff and public money the very next day.
“The council had to step in and find residents accommodation and care at public expense. Basically the law allows these profit hungry individuals to make money from the public sector and then when it suits them shut up shop and leave the public sector with the bill.
“But staff and the public are right to question where has the profits gone. For example, during the pandemic Welsh Government were subsidising the home by paying for the beds that were empty there.
“This is yet another example of where profit comes before people. It would not be an exaggeration to say that moving vulnerable residents could lead to their premature death. We need to take the care sector into public ownership run for the benefit of service users with good pay, terms and conditions for staff. We cannot allow hedge funds, investment groups and people to put profit first to continue to take our money and run.”
