ANOTHER nursing home in York is set to close, with a care home group warning that elderly care is facing a “real crisis”.

Moorlands Care Home in Strensall has revealed that it will shut down, just weeks after Amelia House Care Home in Rawcliffe said it will be closing due to problems recruiting staff.

A spokesman for Moorlands, which is home to 37 residents, said it is also struggling to employ staff in York.

Chief operating officer Lucy Holl said: “This has been a most difficult decision. We have had the whole-hearted support of staff, residents and relatives in all we have done but the combination of national economic circumstance and a regional shortage of care staff continues to undermine our ability to provide the quality of care standards we want for those in our care.”

She said there has been a 90 per cent fall in care staff coming to work in the UK from Europe since 2017.

And she added that the closure of Strensall Barracks and the “lack of good transport links” to Strensall have also made recruitment difficult. Moorlands was rated as requiring improvement by the CQC in May, with inspectors highlighting the organisation’s “high use of agency staff”.

A report to City of York Council said the city’s population of over 75s is set to increase by 50 per cent by 2030.

A spokesman for the Independent Care Group warned nursing homes are heading for a “real crisis”.

He said: “We have got to do something about staff pay, people deserve to be paid more for a skilled job but people aren’t getting much more than the living wage. The margins are so small that it’s not always possible to pay more. It would mean charging more to local authorities and CCGs, which are already under pressure.”

He added that although new care homes are being built, local authorities cannot always afford to pay for publicly-funded beds in those homes.

Michael Melvin, assistant director of adult social care at City of York Council, said: “Moorland Care Home has notified its residents and their relatives of its decision to close.We are working closely with the home, neighbouring local authorities and NHS partners to ensure that moving residents is a well-managed process, giving sufficient time to secure safe, suitable, alternative accommodation."

“We continue to support the care sector to recruit, develop and retain high quality staff, alongside progressing our older peoples’ accommodation programme, which aims to deliver over 550 new care home beds and 380 independent living apartments by 2020.”