Emeritus Prof Christopher May

Care homes have become of great interest to Private Equity not least of all as they seem to be a sustainable source of income & profits.

In an excerpt from her new book Hettie O'Brien explores what this actually entails for people in care homes, the staff & those whose loved one are residents.

Its not a happy tale.

#CareHomes #PrivateEquity

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/28/the-great-care-home-cash-grab-how-private-equity-turned-vulnerable-elderly-people-into-human-atms

The great care home cash grab: how private equity turned vulnerable elderly people into human ATMs

When did care homes come to be seen as recession-proof investments? And who pays the price?

The Guardian
6:12pmWeb
Show threadCruiser 🇪🇺🇺🇦🇬🇱🇨🇦🇲🇽11h ago
@ChrisMayLA6 Profit often imply exploits rather than quality 🙄
Show threadBrian Smith11h ago

@ChrisMayLA6
Given the number of care homes that are closing "due to financial difficulties"
I would conclude they are not a sustainable source of income.
However locally it seems the Private equity mobsters have done their usual dirty tricks and overloaded the care home with debt.

So no doubt they made a profit, while the council and other agencies have to try and re-house the very elderly and now poor residents.

Show threadEmeritus Prof Christopher May11h ago

@BrianSmith950

Yup, that's clearly the game... its a form of asset stripping

Show threadMike 🇬🇧 🇪🇺11h ago
@ChrisMayLA6 @BrianSmith950
Plus they can often be on good size plots of land.
Close, find asbestos, demolish, and hey presto! Housing development
Show threadAM💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿11h ago
@ChrisMayLA6
As you will know care homes were privatised in 1980s and 90s and NHS and community care act 1990 set out process for management and marketisation.
For many of us working in social services at the time it felt like a hostage to fortune . Intervening years have imho shown how profit comes before personal care and individual need must fit within unrealistic parameters 😞
Show threadSteve Williams10h ago
@ChrisMayLA6
My mother’s care home fits this dreadful private equity template. Slashed staffing levels, terrible food, raised fees and managerial chaos. No one I talk to seems to have heard how private equity operates. Dentists, vets and any small, well run organisations are fair game to these vultures. Totally evil.
Show threadSteve Williams9h ago
@ChrisMayLA6
Supper @ £2000 a week.
Show threadDavid S9h ago
@blabberlicious @ChrisMayLA6 wtf?
Show threadSteve Williams8h ago
@Pionir @ChrisMayLA6
Weekend special. They skip as proper supper and knock out food a dog wouldn’t eat. I am in constant battle with the about so many issues. But Mums dementia is really late stage, and the home is minutes away. So moving her would be shite.
Show threadDavid S8h ago

@blabberlicious @ChrisMayLA6

I never thought researching the ownership structure of potential care homes would be on the checklist for my parents.

Show threadSteve Williams8h ago
@Pionir @ChrisMayLA6
Essential. If it’s owned by a conglomerate (private equity) then you are basically paying for middlemen to run down your services and run up your fees. Some homes are still independent. Worth asking.
Show threadEmeritus Prof Christopher May8h ago

@blabberlicious @Pionir

When I was recently exploring homes for respite care for my wife, I found only one independent & actually it was worse than a couple of the group-run homes... that said, I then decided against it any way & am arranging our one day a week respite cover agency to do five days.... and while no cheeper than respite in a home, its a lot less disruptive

Show threadSteve Williams7h ago
@ChrisMayLA6
Yes. Go with your instincts. I reached a stage with mum where I was there almost round the clock, never able to turn off. Always filling in gaps between visits from help. It just got too much. I found joining a local support group was really good. Just being able to talk to people on a similar journey helped me feel less isolated.
It’s important to look after yourself, too.
Show threadEmeritus Prof Christopher May7h ago

@blabberlicious

Yes, I have a number of me-preserving activities (from the gym twice a week, to DJing most Fridays) in addition to my one day 'away' while my wife has a carer at home - very much appreciate the advice & wanted to reassure you that this self-preservation is very much in the forefront of my mind

Show threadAnneH10h ago
@ChrisMayLA6 Also SEND settings & private schools.
Show threadAxomamma, Antifa from birth10h ago

@ChrisMayLA6 But they're not sustainable. They run them into the ground and move on.

The real attraction are the sheer number of opportunities to suck wealth out of an industry that supports a population that isn't seen or heard.

Show threadNicole Parsons9h ago

@ChrisMayLA6

https://www.break-down.org/the-billionaire-machine-w-hettie-obrien/

Private equity is money laundering for the Epstein Class.

Crooks getting their cash legitimized using the housing market, public services, & government contracts.
Tax havens. Sanctions evasions. Tax evasion.

Hettie O'Brien
The Asset Class

Wendy Brown
The Ruins of Neoliberalism

Quinn Slobodian
Hayeks’s Bastards

Kate Raworth
Doughnut Economics

Nancy Maclean
Democracy in Chains

Grace Blakeley
Vulture Capitalism

1/

The Billionaire Machine w/Hettie O'Brien

You may never have heard of private equity firms like Blackstone, KKR, Bain Capital or the Carlyle Group, but in recent decades they have quietly become some of the most powerful companies in the world. They own your hospitals, your nurseries, your energy systems. Their reach stretches from once public

The BREAK—DOWN
Show threadNicole Parsons9h ago

2/

Reading list, continued...

Ha-Joon Chang
23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism

Will Davies
Nervous States

Dan Davies
The Unaccountability Machine

Oliver Bullough
Everybody Loves Our Dollars

Peter Oborne
The Assault On Truth

Nicholas Shaxson
Treasure Islands

Mark Blyth
Angrynomics

Yanis Varoufakis
Technofeudalism

Peter & David Schwartzman
Earth Is Not For Sale

Jamie Woodcock
The Fight Against Platform Capitalism

Jane Mayer
Dark Money

David Enrich
Datk Towers

Show threadNicole Parsons9h ago

3/

Reading list, continued...

Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World
Peter S. Goodman

Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Thomas Piketty

Equality
Thomas Piketty

The Disinherited Majority
Charles Derber

People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent
Joseph E. Stiglitz

Debt: The First 5,000 Years
David Graeber

Our problem isn't immigrants, women, or POC.

It's billionaires acting together to fry the planet & end democracy.

https://theconversation.com/the-epstein-revelations-have-exposed-how-boys-club-elites-avoid-accountability-276839

The Epstein revelations have exposed how ‘Boy’s Club’ elites avoid accountability

The Epstein case points beyond an individual scandal to a broader system of elites in which capital, insularity, and impunity underpin male domination.

The Conversation
Show threadgrabe9h ago
@Npars01 Klobuchar- Antitrust
Show threadbouriquet8h ago
@Npars01 This is the classic example of the old boys club, where you need to know someone to get in but once you’re in, you’re expected to have total loyalty under penalty of near-death (or worse), lips sealed. In exchange, they give you what seems to be power, access to wealth, luxury and forbidden and taboo pleasures. They also get complete power over your actions in the outside world, able to leverage your actions for their advantage.
It’s a literal deal with the devil.
Show threadTerryB7h ago
@ChrisMayLA6 If the experience of vets’ is to be any indication, God help us all.
Show threadGhostOnTheHalfShell6h ago

@ChrisMayLA6

Oh Lord, if anyone needs any evidence just look at what private equity does to nursing homes in the United States. It absolutely should be labeled crime against humanity. The same thing goes with hospitals and healthcare in general.

That has just inspired me to say that neoliberalism should be considered a hate crime against humans

Show threadWulfy—Speaker to the machines6h ago

@GhostOnTheHalfShell @ChrisMayLA6

I've crunched the numbers, the profit-loss equation for, for-profit nursing homes is 18 months

After that time it's more profitable for the resident to die than continue living.

This is in Australian conditions.

Show threadGhostOnTheHalfShell6h ago

@n_dimension @ChrisMayLA6

Yeah, God, can we please end privatize anything having to do with health?

Show threadNomdeb5h ago
@ChrisMayLA6 I head read about poor outcomes in the USA from private equity owned hospitals. Same for concierge doctor services. I would avoid anything private equity owned like the plague when quality is critical.
Show threadPaco Hope5h ago

@nomdeb Don't stop at "when quality is critical." There are no good outcomes from private equity. Every time you see a big American brand suddenly crash out (e.g., Red Lobster, Toys R Us, etc.) just look to see who owns it. You'll usually find private equity has recently acquired it.

So the care homes thing is horrible. It's one of many examples.

@ChrisMayLA6

Show threadNomdeb5h ago
@ChrisMayLA6 We have been VERY fortunate in the US to have my in-laws (now just my MIL in assisted living) in a non-profit continuing care community. But entry fees and asset requirements are high, and while I would personally take more initiative, as a couple of examples, more voice-controlled systems built into the facilities, check lists to help families of residents (but I'm obnoxiously organized ;)), the staff are caring and personable and the food and campus has been of quality.