PEOPLE are waking up to the appalling funding crisis that has led to recent care home closures.

Even those who oppose private sector care provision now seem to understand the law of nature; that businessmen do not close down sound businesses.

It does seem unreasonable, however, that a home owner should suddenly spring four weeks' notice of closure upon the elderly in their care. Would not a three month period give the resident and the social services more time to adjust?

Unfortunately, the notice period which proprietors are able to give is determined entirely by their statutory contractual relationships with their staff: four weeks notice of termination of employment from either party.

Imagine the situation where a home makes public its intention to close and gives its clients 12 weeks' notice. The carers - the often forgotten other victims of closure - look for new employment. They cannot be expected to miss the chance should the right job arise.

In four weeks the home would be left with few or no staff at all. The home would then be operating illegally for eight weeks as staff numbers fell below the statutory minimum. This would not be in the best interests of the elderly residents, the NHS or the home owner who would be sued.

We are all victims of the small print and, though decency suggests that closures should be handled in a more reasonable way, it is not going to happen until local authority purchasers either raise funding considerably or enter into more binding contracts on both sides to afford a little more predictability.

A worrying aspect is not only that a home closes but that the local authority is caught unawares when it does.

Bernard Kennedy,

Proprietor, Wilberforce Lodge,

West Green,

Pocklington, York.

Updated: 10:46 Thursday, November 15, 2001