Providers of social care need to be fully conversant, and compliant, with a large number of diverse areas of the law. When buying or selling a care home, there are numerous broader considerations that need to be taken into account.
These include data protection, safeguarding, equality, and health and safety.
Underwood & Co is one of few legal practices that have extensive experience in sales and acquisitions in the health and social care sectors.
We have delivered legal services for the acquisition and sale of numerous care homes. Such transactions present a vivid illustration of the many legal questions that must be addressed before such a process can be completed.
For instance, all care homes must register with the appropriate national authority – which in England is the Care Quality Commission. The CQC inspects each care home on a regular basis to make sure its operation meets the statutory minimum standards.
Then there is the consideration that all the staff at a care home cannot be on the list held by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The DBS must also be informed if a home has concerns that any of its staff are likely to cause harm to residents.
Care homes must, because they serve meals, register as a food business that needs to comply with safety and hygiene regulations. Even the fact that a TV licence needs to be obtained if there are TVs in the home should not be overlooked.
Those who operate in the field take great reassurance from the legal expertise delivered by Underwood & Co. That depth of knowledge is reinforced by the outstanding levels of customer service that are part of the company’s DNA.
