Allied Healthcare Seeks Company Voluntary Arrangement
Allied Healthcare is to seek a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) to ensure it can continue to operate in the increasingly difficult homecare market. Allied Healthcare’s proposed CVA is not intended to impact on services or jobs on its website a stamen says:
“As with many independent providers in the UK’s health and social care sector, Allied Healthcare has been operating in a highly-challenging environment for a sustained period of time, which has placed pressure on the company.
As a result of these challenges, the organisation has taken the decision to pursue a CVA as part of a prospective business plan that will ensure safe continuity of care across its UK-wide operations, place the company on a sustainable long-term footing, and maximise repayments to its creditors.
Allied Healthcare delivers over 9 million hours of care every year, is the preferred provider for many local authorities and also an approved healthcare supplier to the NHS.
Allied Healthcare has said that the proposed CVA will not impact on the safe continuity of care that it provides. The CVA will, however, enable the company to restructure its financial arrangements and agree a revised schedule of repayments with its creditors so that the company can continue investing in its services and people.
Under the CVA plan, there would be no redundancies or branch closures as a result of its implementation. Allied Healthcare has assured customers and employees that it will continue to trade safely and it remains business as usual.”
The homecare market has been under increasing pressure with providers handing back local authority contracts and a report published in March 2017 stating that the sector was ‘on the brink of collapse’. In October 2016, UKHCA, published a report highlighting the under-resourcing of state-funded homecare using information obtained under Freedom of Information enquiries.
With the Green Paper due this summer, but reform still some way off, Allied Healthcare’s proposed CVS highlights the severity of the issues facing state-funded homecare.
The Local Government Association, which represents local authorities, said it was working alongside the Care Quality Commission and government to support Allied where possible.
An LGA spokesman said: “The absolute priority for councils affected is to protect the vital care and support that older and disabled people rely on and ensure it is able to continue without interruption.
“Councils have robust contingency plans in place to manage the care of individuals if necessary.”
