Dreams that lie in tatters: the changing fortunes of nurses who left the British NHS to own and run residential homes for elderly people

During the 1980s many nurses left the British National Health Service to own and run private residential care homes for elderly people. At the time, a public policy of guaranteed financial support for residents underpinned the rapid expansion in the sector and residential homes were considered as profitable low-risk business ventures. However, since the introduction of the 1990 National Health Service and Care in the Community Act, this …