Proving that everybody has a part to play in times of crisis, UK care homes are opening their doors and offering emergency accommodation to refugees arriving from besieged Ukraine.
A care home operator in Sussex, Healthcare Management Solutions, has already made 150 rooms available across its properties, with Chief Executive Tony Stein explaining that “…it starts with having facilities like this that we can utilise and then we worry about how we fund it. Ultimately I'm sure we're going to end up with Ukrainians living in the UK that we are helping, people that are fleeing war. The start point is where are they going to live? If we can get over that hurdle then we can get over how we fund it, that's the secondary issue."
With some two million people having already fled the conflict, there are sure to be many Ukrainians desperate for accommodation arriving in the UK despite strict post-Brexit visa requirements, which have attracted criticism. For its part, the Government said that “Last week we announced a new sponsorship route which will allow Ukrainians with no family ties to the UK to be sponsored to come to the UK. This is alongside our Ukraine Family Scheme, which has already seen thousands of people apply, as well as changes to visas so that people can stay in the UK safely.”
With no end to the war currently in sight, other care home providers seem set to follow Healthcare Management’s lead.
