Union officials today claimed staff and residents at Southern Cross care homes in Shropshire faced an uncertain future because landlords had failed to meet a deadline to secure new operators to run the sites.

Southern Cross Healthcare group collapsed due to a financial crisis brought on by rising rent bills and lower occupancy rates and was ordered to return control of all of its homes to its landlords.

The Government asked landlords, including those for the seven Southern Cross care homes in Shropshire, to appoint new operators by August 1.

But today the GMB, which represents some of the staff at the county’s care homes, said this deadline had not been met.

And it claimed the almost 200 residents and 292 staff at the centres in Telford, Wem, Whitchurch, Oswestry, Newport and two in Shrewsbury had been left in limbo.

The union today described the situation as a “shambles”. Amanda Gearing, GMB regional officer, said: “When will the uncertainty for residents and staff be brought to an end?

“This is not a widget factory transferring production from one manufacturer to another, this is the homes of the most vulnerable and dependent in our society and they and those who look after them deserve to be treated better.

“If the landlords don’t pull their fingers out, or government doesn’t take a hand, the deadline for the transfer of these operations will not be met and the worry and uncertainty for residents, their families and the staff will not be lifted.

“Quite why the landlords as the owners of the buildings should be running the show is as mysterious as it is unacceptable.”

The GMB says it was told by Southern Cross last month that all landlords were expected to make their decision on their home’s future operator by August 1, with the first 250 homes transferred by the end of September and the remainder in October.

A Southern Cross Healthcare Group PLC spokeswoman said: “We cannot comment on the transferral process outlined by GMB for legal reasons until agreements have been reached with all parties concerned.

“Since March 14 when the company announced its in-tention to seek a financial restructuring of the business, it has frequently reaffirmed its ongoing commit- ment to preserve continuity and quality of care to its 31,000 residents.”