Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co, reports a noticeable increase in appetite for closed care homes in the Midlands region. Tamara Gee, Associate Director - Healthcare at Christie & Co, comments, “A clear increase in appetite for closed, vacant care homes in the Midlands has sparked a rise in the number of offers received. Due to the current demand, in some instances, price-per-bed numbers are stronger than they were pre-pandemic which is positive for those looking to sell.” Recent deals, such as the sale of closed residential care home, Haversham House, in Stoke-on-Trent and closed former nursing home, Cloverfields, in Shropshire illustrate this demand. The former Haversham House property is a 1990s purpose-built.

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Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co, has today released its mid-year review of the care business property market, which analyses the market in 2021 so far, gives an outlook for the remainder of the year, and shares views from its latest operator sentiment survey. The Road to Recovery After a challenging time for the care sector, which was exacerbated by a second wave of the virus Christie & Co notes promising signs of recovery. Thanks, in part, to the success of the vaccine rollout in the UK, the rate of COVID-19 infection levels and deaths within care homes has dramatically decreased, enabling homes to accept new admissions. Similarly, relatives and prospective residents are now more confident of moving into a care setting due to reductions in self isolation and the fact that regular family visits are now much easier to achieve.

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Millions of NHS patients and staff will benefit from tastier, healthier and better quality meals following an independent review of hospital food, led by a panel of advisers including chef and restaurateur Prue Leith. Published today, the review makes recommendations on how NHS trusts can prioritise food safety and provide more nutritious meals to both staff and patients. The government has today announced it will establish an expert group of NHS caterers, dietitians and nurses to take forward the recommendations made in the report and decide on next steps. These include: • upgrading hospital kitchens so a 24/7 service can be provided to everyone; from a hot drink and a snack in the middle of the night to a hot meal for new mums in a maternity ward or for patients hungry after a long fast due to surgery.

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The Prime Minister confirmed for the first time that 40 hospitals will be built by 2030 as part of a package worth £3.7bn, with 8 further new schemes invited to bid, delivering on the government’s manifesto commitment. New standards will be developed over the coming months to help standardise the design of new hospitals and make use of modular construction methods to speed up the build. The health infrastructure plan (HIP) is the biggest hospital building programme in a generation. It launched last September with a £2.8 billion investment that gave 6 new hospitals the funding to go ahead, alongside seed funding for trusts to work up business cases. The trusts that received seed funding will now all be fully funded to deliver 25 new hospitals.

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Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co has launched the first edition of its Buyer Registration Index, an analysis of website registrations which indicates buyer sentiment across all eight of its industry sectors, including care. The Index focuses on how buyer sentiment has evolved during the UK Covid-19 lockdown period. The Index reveals that, from 27 April - shortly after the UK government announced the beginning of the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions - to 22 June 2020, Christie & Co witnessed an increase of 58 percent in new buyer registration figures for the care sector. The company expects this general trajectory of increased activity to be maintained, particularly as banks begin to focus more actively on new lending.

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Whilst their own businesses are closed, hospitality operators are being asked to check if they have any stock that could be used in the health and social care sector, following an appeal to the Access Group. The technology provider works with customers in both hospitality and health and social care and realised that one division might support the other when it started to receive details of shortages in the care sector. “The hospitality industry has been decimated by the impact of Covid-19,” commented Henry Seddon, MD of Access Hospitality. “Yet time and time again, operators and their staff have risen to the challenges they face and rallied to support their customers and the community around them.

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The government is to work with the NHS to improve food quality in hospitals and provide consistently safe, nutritious and tasty food. Restaurateur and celebrity chef, Prue Leith CBE will act as an adviser to the review. The review will consider: > how food can help aid faster recovery, taking into account the unique needs of vulnerable groups > support from national bodies such as the Soil Association and National Caterers Association to source food services locally and reduce reliance on frozen or packaged foods > new systems to monitor food safety and quality more transparently, including looking at how NHS boards are held to account > how the NHS can be a standard-bearer for healthier choices for patients.

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The multi-agency team investigating cases of listeriosis linked to sandwiches and salads can confirm that, since the last update on 26 June, there has been another death linked to this outbreak. The total number of deaths linked to this outbreak is 6. The individual who sadly died was one of the 9 previously confirmed cases. The individual is considered to have acquired listeriosis from Good Food Chain products while at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The Good Food Chain, although found not to be the source of the outbreak, went into liquidation a few weeks after the investigation in June. Production had been been continuously suspended since 5 June, the impact on the company had been too great for the business to remain viable.

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Health Secretary Matt Hancock has ordered a 'root and branch' review of hospital food after two further deaths were linked to an outbreak of listeria. The latest announcement from Public Health England (PHE) takes the number of confirmed cases to five and evidence suggested that the deceased ate the products before 25 May. The hospitals where the pateients died are the Leicester Royal Infirmary, and Royal Derby Hospital. A further four hospitals, William Harvey in Ashford, Wexham Park Hospital in Berkshire, St Richards Hospital, in Chichester, Sussex, and Worthing Hospital, have been affected by the outbreak. The first case showed symptoms on April 25 and sandwiches and salads were withdrawn on May 25.

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Public Health England (PHE), The Food Standards Agency (FSA), Public Health Wales (PHW), Food Standards Scotland (FSS), Health Protection Scotland (HPS) and a number of local authorities are currently investigating the source of listeria infections linked to pre-packed sandwiches in hospitals. Sandwiches and salads linked to the cases have been withdrawn and the supplier, The Good Food Chain, has voluntarily ceased production while the investigation continues. This business had been supplied with meat produced by North Country Cooked Meats which subsequently produced a positive test result for the outbreak strain of listeria. This business and North Country Quality Foods who they distribute through.

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‘Low skilled’ care workers from the EU will lose the automatic right to work in the UK’s care sector post Brexit but could apply for short-term visas lasting a year, according to new immigration proposals. A government White Paper on immigration recommends low skilled workers could apply for the short term visas as part of what the Home Office describes as ‘a new route for workers at any skill level for a temporary period’. The White Paper states: ‘We recognise the challenges faced by these employers, particularly in sectors like construction and social care, who would find it difficult immediately to adapt. ‘This route will allow people to come for a maximum of 12 months, with a cooling-off period of a further 12 months to prevent people effectively working in the UK permanently.

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Building on the first chapter of the childhood obesity plan, the new measures include proposals to counter 'pester power' by preventing stores from displaying unhealthy food at checkouts, or including it in buy-one-get-one-free deals. The Department of Health and Social Care will consult on introducing clear, consistent calorie labelling on menus in restaurants, cafes and takeaways, so parents can make an informed choice about what their families are eating. The department will also consult on banning the sale of harmful, caffeine-laden energy drinks to children - a quarter of 6- to 9-year-olds consume these energy drinks, which can have as much caffeine as a cup of coffee or more. The government is calling on industry to recognise the harm that adverts for foods high in fat.

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The enforced liquidation of UK multinational facilities management and construction services company Carillion has cast a shadow over catering services in hospitals. Carillion was contracted to provide soft (catering and cleaning) and hard (building maintenance) services at 14 NHS Trusts. Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) chairman Stewart McKenzie said, “We understand that Carillion’s healthcare portfolio was responsible for preparing more than 18,500 patient meals per day. “Alongside that, buildings they were responsible for included 200 operating theatres, 300 critical care beds and just under 11,500 in-patient beds. They were also responsible for the new, under construction Royal Liverpool Hospital.

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Colliers International’s latest edition of its Healthcare Market Review reveals that in the last twelve months, the sector has continued to provide occupancy, income and fee challenges and opportunities in equal measure however, overall the healthcare investment market is still attracting great interest. In contrast to the more positive pattern of recent years, there have been generally negative trends in the elderly, personal and specialist care sectors but the nursing sector has proved a little more resilient. Colliers’ 23rd edition of the Healthcare Market Review provides an in-depth analysis of the healthcare property and business sector, focusing on key drivers of the care home industry.

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The first professional catering qualification for health and social care catering – Level 2 Award in Professional Cookery in Health and Social Care – developed by the National Association of Care Catering (NACC), Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) and the awarding body of the Institute of Hospitality (IOH), has been officially approved on the Ofqual Regulated Qualification Framework. Organisations will be able to apply to become approved centres to offer the qualification from January 2018. The qualification is designed for people who cater for patients and residents in a health and social care setting and focuses on developing their awareness of diet and appetite issues that may arise in this environment.

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The Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) has welcomed the news that food and hydration provision scores were among the largest increases in the latest Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) publication. Food and hydration provision assessments carried out across healthcare sites in England between March and June 2017 increased by 1.4% on average, at national level, compared to last year. The national average score for food overall was 89.7% based on both organisational and ward assessment scorecards, which are used to gather the data. A total of 2,045 food assessments were undertaken in the period at sites where meals are provided by the hospital (1,167 sites). The food and hydration part of the assessment includes a range of organisational questions relating to the catering service.

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There will be a shortfall of nearly 3,000 care home beds next year in Scotland, according to property management and investment firm, JLL. This is based on the current development pipeline and anticipated increase in demand due to growing demographics in the UK. Just within Scotland, the forecasts suggest a need for an extra 10,800 beds by 2026, or roughly 1,008 beds per year. With just under 1,100 beds lost in the market in 2016, the regional build rate could actually be closer to 1,200 new beds per year in order to offset home closures. At the same time that demand is rising, the pipeline of planned developments in Scotland suggests that just 700 beds will be built during 2018. With about 77% of all care home beds built before modern quality standards were adopted in 2002.

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The NHS is today stepping up the battle against obesity, diabetes and tooth decay by announcing that sugary drinks will be banned in hospital shops beginning from next year unless suppliers voluntarily take decisive action to cut their sales over the next 12 months. NHS England is announcing that leading retailers have agreed to continue voluntarily reducing sales of sugary drinks to 10 percent or less of their total drinks sales within hospitals over the coming year. WH Smith, Marks & Spencer, Greggs, the SUBWAY(r) brand, Medirest, ISS and the Royal Voluntary Service are the leading suppliers who have today pledged to cut sales. Remaining retailers are now being urged to join them in order to kick-start a major health drive and ensure the NHS leads the way on tackling the devastating impact of the country’s sweet tooth on public health.

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The Campaign for Better Hospital Food undertook a survey of food standards in NHS hospitals, Taking the Pulse of Hospital Food, using London as a test case. Thirty out of 39 of London’s acute hospitals responded. The study shows that half of hospitals are failing to meet basic food standards, and nearly two thirds are failing to cook fresh food for their patients. The report reveals many hospitals are struggling to serve and sell freshly prepared, healthy and ethically sourced food for patients, staff and hospital visitors. Half of London hospitals say they are not meeting basic hospital food standards and under a third (only 30%) of hospitals say they are cooking fresh food on-site for their patients.

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Department of Health has released date today showing that Government rules for food served to NHS patients are being missed by almost 50% of hospitals in England. The data revealed that: • 48% of hospitals do not meet Government Buying Standards that give hospitals basic standards to meet on food quality, nutrition, environmental sustainability and animal welfare, standards which the Government says should be mandatory • Half of hospitals do not meet dietician guidelines outline by the British Dietetic Association, standards which the Government says should be mandatory • 30% of patients are at real risk of malnutrition in hospitals, yet only half of hospitals screened every patients for signs that they were struggling to get enough to eat.

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