Union hits at Southern Cross over its exclusion from talks

Representatives of the carers, nurses and other 43,000 staff working at Southern Cross today hit out at the stricken care homes group plus its landlords and the Government for excluding them from crisis talks over its future.

Ahead of a meeting on Wednesday between the major stakeholders in Southern Cross including the NHS and the firm's 80 landlords, Justin Bowden, national officer for the GMB union which represents the care homes operator's staff, today wrote to its chief executive Jamie Buchan.

The letter said: "Southern Cross is a people business. With 43,000 staff making up some 55% of the company's costs, they are fundamental to the delivery of service to the residents and to the future of the business.

"At the meeting set for Wednesday of Government, landlords and Southern Cross, there is a conspicuous absence of the staff's voice.

"GMB believes the time is now right for the company, the landlords, the Government and the union to come together. GMB believes this should be without delay."

Southern Cross's chairman Christopher Fisher apologised for the "uncertainty and concern" caused by the firm's struggles. He told the Today programme of the firm's wafer-thin margins.