It is believed no loan was offered, but most councils have now managed to get plans in place to keep services running.
Council leaders and social services bosses have since confirmed they are “exploring all options to maintain services, including alternative providers and local solutions”.
“We are committed to ensuring that services remain as reliable as possible, especially to those people with the highest levels of need during this period of uncertainty,” said the Local Government Association, which represents councils in England, in a joint statement with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services.
NRS, which employs about 1,500 people across the UK and is based in Leicestershire, finds and supplies a wide range of equipment from wheelchairs and hoists to hospital beds and pendants which monitor falls. It also maintains and repairs equipment.
In a letter, sent to the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) on 4 July, councils in southeast England warned the firm’s expected failure would mean local authorities would be unable to meet their legal duties to provide important support in the community.
It will be impossible to “discharge safely patients from hospital”, the councils added.
The letter says NRS, which is owned by private equity, has contracts to supply about 40% of the healthcare equipment delivered in the community in England.
Many of its services are in the southeast of England, particularly in London. Local authorities in that region estimate 60-70% of the orders made are for equipment to support someone who is being discharged from hospital and that the majority are urgent same-day or next-day requests.
The company’s accounts say it suffered a costly cyber attack last year and it is also understood to have been losing money on some of its contracts with councils.
Like other firms, it will have been juggling the impact of inflation and rising costs, including employer’s national insurance.
