The government says it is putting ’extensive support’ in place to ensure the care and safety of residents at the Corrin Memorial Home in Peel, as directors of the privately-run facility prepare to close the home on July 19.

A team from Manx Care and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is assisting residents and families to find places in residential care elsewhere.

Save the Corrin Home, a group of residents and families connected with the home, told the Manx Independent last week that it understood some residents were being signposted towards Southlands care home in Port St Mary, and that their staff had visited Corrin Home.

The government confirmed the individual needs of each resident will be ’urgently’ assessed, to ensure that an appropriate new home is chosen.

The trustees and directors of Corrin Memorial Home say the operating company is not financially viable and will be stepping down as directors at the end of July.

Senior DHSC officers have held regular meetings with the trustees and directors to seek to resolve issues, but the government now says that all parties agree that the current operation is unsustainable.

Health Minister David Ashford has insisted everything possible was done to try to keep the home open for a further six months.

Mr Ashford said: ’This situation is regrettable, but having reviewed the Corrin Home’s recent financial position and outlook, it is clear the operation is not financially viable and that closure is inevitable in the current circumstances.

’This needs to be progressed immediately.

’Government’s primary concern is for the safety and welfare of the residents, as this is their home.

’Recent uncertainty has been unsettling for residents, relatives and staff, but there is now a clear course of action.

’Our officers and social care professionals are providing assistance to families as they choose a new home for their loved ones.

Tynwald last month backed the health department to press for it to stay open for another six months to find a solution.

Mr Ashford said: ’Every effort has been made to meet the aspiration of Tynwald that a minimum six months’ notice is given to residents, to avoid the very situation we are in.

’However, as the operating company cannot in practice continue beyond July at the latest, our focus must now be on helping to manage that process and ensure the welfare of residents.’

Speaking in Tynwald on Tuesday, Mr Ashford stated: ’We have tried to work with the directors to ensure a minimum of six months’ notice.

’The directors have made absolutely, abundantly clear, even with financial support, they will not operate past July 31.’

He added: ’They also threw up a new problem for us, which I think was on June 1, when they actually advised that their insurance for the building and the operation runs out on July 19 - something that they had not previously advised us, which we found out at that point - and that the insurer is not willing to extend the insurance.’

Not all cash flow information had been provided either, though the trustees and directors have insisted that some financial information cannot be shared beyond senior officers of the health department and the Treasury.

In response to a question from Juan Watterson (Rushen), Mr Ashford said for it to be able to step in and take over the running of the home, the government would need the permission of the holding company, which ’had not been forthcoming’.

Kate Lord-Brennan MLC - who is standing in the constituency in the Keys election - queried why assessments of possible relocations had begun while the talks about saving the home or delaying its closure were still taking place.

These concerns were also raised by the Save the Corrin Home group to the Manx Independent last week.

The Department of Health had a statutory duty to ensure the residents were in a safe environment and relocated if necessary, Mr Ashford said.

’It would have been absolutely negligent of DHSC to have sat on our hands, speaking with the trustees, without having those assessments.’

There was also an angry exchange between Mr Ashford and former cabinet colleague Chris Thomas (Douglas Central), when Mr Thomas asked: ’Was the requirement for all financial information just a trap that was set that so that the solution could not be put in place?’

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Mr Ashford retorted: ’What an absolute pile of nonsense.

’The DHSC has been determined to try and work with directors to find a solution to this. It is not any form of trap.’

A government spokesperson confirmed that there was no shortage of space across other island homes for Corrin Home residents to move to.

The government said it hoped that in the long term, the site could be used for the provision of health and care facilities for the west of the island.