Care homes

Our multidisciplinary care homes team assists with the full range of legal issues that care homes face, including during critical times.

When faced with a CQC (Care Quality Commission) notice or investigation, immediate action is needed. Our team specialises in assisting care home operators and managers to navigate these situations sensitively and effectively.

We also advise on care sector corporate transactions, professional discipline and healthcare regulatory law, employment and immigration, health and safety, commercial and intellectual property, data protection, litigation and real estate matters.

Our team is led by Matt Coles, a solicitor with over 20 years’ experience. He represents care homes across the UK, from small organisations to multi-site operators. A background in policing and as a former Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service continues to serve Matt well when assisting clients dealing with investigations, regulators and enforcement actions.

He gained a personal insight into the care sector following his mother’s years in a specialist dementia home. Here, Matt saw first-hand the excellent and demanding work undertaken by carers on a daily basis. This experience helps him to see matters from all perspectives and appreciate the difficulties and conflicts that these can sometimes bring.

Vastly experienced in dealing with the CQC and local authorities, Matt also advises in relation to crisis management and reputational protection issues, as well as coroner requests for information and preparation for (and attendance at) inquests.

If you would like to find out more about what we do, Matt will be delighted to arrange a free, no obligation discussion with you.

Talk to us by completing our contact form at the bottom of the page.

Find out more about our services and experience below.

In this section

Healthcare

‘“Thank you so much to David Seddon, Graeme Hughes, Fern Bullock and Clara Moir for all of your hard work, help, advice and support during a very long-winded and difficult process in selling our care home. We absolutely could not have gotten here without you all — you are simply the best lawyer team in the world.”

The Trustees, Catholic Blind Institute

‘“Thank you so much to David Seddon, Graeme Hughes, Fern Bullock and Clara Moir for all of your hard work, help, advice and support during a very long-winded and difficult process in selling our care home. We absolutely could not have gotten here without you all — you are simply the best lawyer team in the world.”

The Trustees, Catholic Blind Institute

Our services

Professional discipline and healthcare regulatory law

With experts in professional discipline and healthcare regulatory law, we advise individual professionals, groups and representative bodies in connection with all regulatory matters impacting the care sector.
CQC notices and inquests
When the CQC serves a notice or launches an investigation, immediate action is needed.
The last thing you need is to worry about whether your insurance will assist with the situation, which can use up valuable time when strict deadlines for responding are imposed.
We can help you to respond promptly and appropriately to CQC notices or investigations, ensuring that your operations continue with minimal disruption.
We also provide sensitive guidance when you receive a request for information or for a statement from a coroner investigating a resident’s death. It’s essential to have expert legal representation at an early stage and with our support, the coroner often accepts the information provided, eliminating the need for in-person attendance at inquest. When a care home or its people are called as an ‘interested person’ at inquest, it can result in serious reputational damage and again, expert assistance is required.
We have excellent relationships with specialist barristers (including deputy coroners), who can represent you and protect your interests. We take a comprehensive approach to inquest preparation, providing full support at each stage.
We provide:
Full-service legal advice and representation for care home businesses, directors, managers and employees, including in relation to:
the CQC
local authority and police investigations
inspection reports
factual accuracy checks
requests from a coroner
preparation for and attendance at coroners’ inquests.
Attending site visits — we travel nationally to be on-site quickly whenever required to assist a care home in need. We also offer remote meetings as required to help keep costs down.
Attending face-to-face meetings with the CQC or local authority, during police interviews, coroner’s inquests or at court.
Providing training to managers and employees on best practice from a legal perspective.
Health and safety

If you experience a health and safety issue, the resulting investigation could prove financially and reputationally damaging — especially if evidence of wrongdoing is found on your part.
We offer a preventative, proactive approach to health and safety matters to help you avoid an investigation. Our practical advice can help you to reach a successful outcome.
Our health and safety experts assist throughout the investigatory process as well as on compliance, improvement and prohibition notices. We operate an all-day, everyday crisis response line and can send personnel to your site immediately following a serious incident to help you to take control of any investigation early on. We also offer a tailored media management service to limit any reputational fallout.
Corporate transactions
From securing investment to completing an acquisition or disposal, our expert corporate lawyers work closely with you to help build and implement your strategy, grow your business, achieve your objectives and negotiate terms.
We take the time to understand the issues that are important to you. We understand the market, the regulatory requirements and the typical challenges involved.
We advise on a wide range of care sector corporate transactions, including:
business sales, acquisitions and mergers
private equity, senior and mezzanine debt and other forms of funding
governance
group reorganisations
joint venture and shareholder arrangements
insolvency and the acquisition of distressed assets
transactional tax advice.
Employment and immigration

Employment law for care homes
Our award-winning employment team provides businesses with the tools they need to avoid issues arising, including around employment contracts, policies and training.
We advise on all employment matters, from day-to-day queries to more complex and project-based matters such as international recruitment, compliance with immigration requirements, reorganisations, TUPE, restructures, redundancies and union matters.
When issues do arise, we are skilled and experienced in dealing with Employment Tribunal claims and resolving complex employment-related disputes.

Care home immigration
The care sector is suffering from a severe shortage of labour in the UK market and is heavily dependent on migrant workers. Immigration is a fast-changing area of law and ensuring compliance can be tricky.
We support care homes in their applications to become approved sponsors with the Home Office, which allows workers to be brought in from overseas. We can act as the named representative on your sponsor licence and deal with all aspects of compliance to ensure that you abide by your sponsor duties.
We work with reputable recruiters who provide the best candidates from overseas.
Commercial and intellectual property

Our commercial law experts can advise you on commercial contracts, terms of business, IT contracts, data protection, public procurement, competition law and intellectual property (IP).
Where IP is concerned, we provide pragmatic, commercial advice to help you enforce your rights or defend an action brought against you in an efficient and cost-effective way.
Your IP rights are vital assets that require unique legal protection. With an effective IP strategy, you can build a stronger, more resilient brand and business.
Litigation

Sometimes, litigation is unavoidable. Our highly experienced team will help you throughout the litigation process to resolve disputes as quickly and cost effectively as possible.
We provide support across a wide range of issues, including personal, commercial and regulatory disputes, contract disputes, professional negligence cases, shareholder and partnership disputes, claims for breach of employment contracts, debt recovery matters, property litigation, construction disputes, contested wills and defamation and privacy cases.
Real estate

Our real estate team advises on property investment, management, development, litigation, planning, environmental and property tax matters.
We advise on all care home property matters, including the sale and purchase process as well as portfolio management.

Working with us & our experience

Working with us
We provide:
Effective, realistic and strategic advice.
Excellent links with forward-thinking and innovative care sector specialist brokers and leading third-party care consultants.
A bespoke health and safety service — Brabners Protect — that focuses on proactive compliance, but also provides immediate assistance in the event of an incident through a 24-hour crisis management telephone support service managed by experienced lawyers.
Access to a dedicated team of over 250 legal experts with experience in employment law, business immigration, commercial contracts, corporate affairs, litigation, intellectual property, real estate and data protection.
Our experience
Resolving and challenging CQC notices of proposal and decision, as well as assisting with factual accuracy checks.
Advising on and defending allegations of criminal neglect or ill treatment (where the home supports those involved).
Representing care homes at coronial inquests where the organisation or members of staff are designated as interested persons.
Representing organisations and individuals in the most serious criminal and regulatory investigations, including for corporate and gross negligence manslaughter.
Advising a network of 36 care homes (providing a full spectrum of person-centred care services) on various corporate transactions.
Acting for care groups on the acquisitions of multisite operators.
Acting for banks and other institutional lenders in relation to the bilateral financing and refinancing of care home operators (both individual and groups), including for acquisition and development finance.
Advising various care home providers on financing transactions.