There is no guarantee that residents in a Ramsey old folk’s home can be relocated nearby when it closes.

Residents and staff at King’s Reach Care Home at Alkest Way in Ramsey, were told it is to close on October 1.

A statement from the Department of Health and Social Care said: ’The Department is supporting King’s Reach residents in finding somewhere else to stay appropriate to their needs, and this would be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

’Care home vacancies across the island are monitored constantly by the DHSC, and the social work team will advise residents and their families of places appropriate to their individual care needs.’

A spokesman at the home said a few of the residents were to move to nearby Beaconsfield home. Many were very upset by the closure but it was a decision from the parent company.

’It’s really sad for the residents and staff,’ she said.

The closure decision was made by parent company, Four Seasons Healthcare, based in Cheshire, which has also closed a number of its homes in the UK.

The home, which has around 60 staff, a third of whom are full time, has said it will work with the government to support residents looking for alternative residential homes.

Four Seasons Healthcare has cited problems with recruiting staff, particularly those who are suitably qualified.

In 2016, the Guardian newspaper reported the company made a £264m annual loss for which it blamed a crisis in the social care industry, rising costs and falling fees being paid by local authorities towards residents’ care.

The introduction in the UK of a £7.20 per hour minimum wage had also added to running costs, the company said.

Four Seasons’ chairman, Robbie Barr, said it was improving the quality of its care and was pressing ahead with a turnaround plan, despite debts of more than £500 million.

In May, the Financial Times reported the organisation had raised its care home fees in the face of financial losses. Residents fees were increased by an average of 7.5 per cent bringing the weekly cost up to £663 from £617 in 2015. The Financial Times also reported Four Seasons debt rose to £565 million in December and the company was to refinance later in the year to stave off collapse.

A new care home built in Douglas on the site of the former Salisbury Street bus garages is now open and has welcomed its first residents.

It is operated by Adorn Domiciliary Care Ltd, with 40 rooms available for old people whose nursing care is benefit funded, to reduce the number of individuals ’stranded’ in residential or hospital care.