Markets must by monitored at local level says Public Accounts Committee

A limit must be set on how much market share a provider can possess in local areas in order to prevent another Southern Cross happening, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has said. It has also recommended that Department of Health (DH) should monitor the financial health of large scale providers so that if a major operator closes, its care home residents are protected. Southern Cross had a 9% market share nationally but held, according to the PAC, up to 30% of the sector in certain local authority areas in the north east of England.