Businessman Ernie Batten owns the Little Oyster residential home on the Isle of Sheppey and is a worried man.

He warned: "I've been in this business for 30 to 40 years and this crisis is unprecedented.

"Homes are suffering from increased overheads in the form of gas and electricity prices, there is an ageing population and greater expectations at a time when the government is paying uneconomic fees. I fear for the industry. I can see lots of care homes closing."

His words came just days after another home, Bromfield House less than a mile away, was forced to shut and find alternative accommodation for its residents.

There were times when buying up large, empty houses and converting them to look after the elderly was a licence to print money. Many may have entered the profession in the hope of making a quick buck.

But the care industry was sent reeling two years ago when the pandemic hit the UK and is now facing a perfect storm of problems.

When the then Health Secretary Matt 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here' Hancock ordered hospitals to discharge elderly patients into care homes without tests and without proper masks, many overworked staff, shocked from seeing long-term vulnerable patients catching the disease and dying, decided to walk.

With historic routes to cheap foreign labour cut off post-Brexit, care home bosses were left in a quandary as they battled to recruit new workers.

The Little Oyster, which is on The Leas at Minster and overlooks the sea, is a purpose-built 64-bed centre for adults with physical and or learning disabilities aged 18 to 65. Despite Mr Batten's words of woe, it seems to be one of the few bucking the trend. So what is its secret?

After the Care Quality Commission labelled it "inadequate" and put it in special measures last year, Mr Batten brought in veteran trouble-shooter Jane Bunnett.

The trained nurse and former chief executive, accompanied by her therapy dog Beau, patrol the corridors, knows all her staff and residents by name and has reversed the home out of special measures. It is now rated "requires improvement" and is hoping to be named "good" at its next inspection.

"My first reaction is crisis, what crisis?" says Jane. "We are in the lucky position to actually have a waiting list for staff."

But she admits it has been tough turning things around.

"The major problem is recruitment," she says. "Wages are low, with most people on the minimum wage due to the fees we are able to get, and morale is low.

"The care industry was heavily hit by Covid with many staff leaving and not wanting to come back. We still regularly lose staff to McDonald's and Aldi where they can get up to £2 an hour more than care homes can pay, which is a great loss."

She said new residents with complex needs often need more help these days. But because Little Oyster specialises in those types of high dependency users from across Kent and Medway it can command higher fees – at least £1,000 a week.

Jane said: "Because of that, staff can build teams and work together with specialist groups of individuals to create a strong rapport with our residents. We work on a minimum ratio of one to three during the day so residents are able to get out and about and live their life. It makes for a very happy place."

She says most of her recruitment is through word of mouth. No agency staff are used.

She added: "When we do lose staff, they often come back. We give them a huge amount of training and try to be family friendly as many of our staff are parents. We try to be flexible so they have a good work-life balance."

Jane, originally from Bath but now living near Rainham, was first head-hunted to open a brand new state-of-the-art home for the elderly next door.

But Covid and the CQC inspection put that on hold. It won't open until next year.

She is reluctant to reveal her age but admits to 40 years of experience of nursing and turning around troubled services for larger groups.

It is clear she carries the authority to lay down the law but also the knowledge it is essential to keep her 85 staff on side.

"I try to be firm but fair," she says. "I need the right type of staff who want to come to work. Luckily, the staff here are naturally very compassionate and prepared to go that extra mile. I have been a nurse. I know what it's like."

Staff get free meals while on duty and the home offers interest-free pay-day loans to help staff struggling with unexpected costs such as car MOTs.

One staff member admitted: "It can be stressful at times but I love it here."

Many Eastern European staff returned home after the Brexit vote. Jane said: "They were hard-working with excellent written and spoken English but they told me the vote made them feel unwelcome. Now most of our staff come from the Island."

There are a few like Leah Fisher who is from the Philippines. She has been at the home for six years after meeting her English husband online and coming to Britain. "It's like a family here," she said. "And I like your four seasons. At home it's either wet or dry."

But a home is also made up of its residents. The Little Oyster has 54.

Among them is Robin Searle, 51, from Sittingbourne. He had been a Class 1 driver taking 45-foot articulated lorries all over the country until he suffered a stroke. Now he is in a wheelchair.

He said: "I was in the kitchen fixing myself a cup of coffee when I had a really bad headache. I could feel the vein rupture in my head. Luckily, my wife came home early from work and found me collapsed on the floor screaming in pain."

He was rushed to Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham and then to King's College Hospital, London, for an emergency operation before spending more than two years at the Orpington Hospital. He was offered a place at the Little Oyster 18 months ago.

He said: "I nearly died. The doctors still don't know how I survived. But it's calm and safe here and they are teaching me to get my independence back. I am a different person now."

He is making such good progress that Jane has taken him on part-time to help with the marketing of the new home when it opens.

Matt Dye, 29, from Faversham, has cerebral palsy and has his own flat at the Little Oyster after his father was unable to look after him at home.

"My dad needed a rest," said Matt, who is being taught to look after himself by staff. Jane has signed him up as a 'meet and greeter' for visitors.

Another with a flat of his own is Lee Griffiths, 52, from Canterbury who has leukaemia and needs three carers a day.

Next door live Keith Whitman, 61, and his wife Amanda, 41. They met and married at the Little Oyster and now live together in special accommodation.

Amanda said: "We met on New Year's Eve 2017. There was a party going on downstairs so I went down and met Keith. We started talking and that was it!"

Keith, an electronics engineer, had only recently arrived after a stroke had left him paralysed.

Before the Little Oyster was converted into a residential home, it looked after guests of a different kind. It was Sheppey's answer to the fictional Maplins holiday camp featured in the TV comedy series Hi De Hi.

The walls echoed to the sound of laughter, comedians' jokes and music from dance bands.

A former swimming pool is now filled in and under the patio.

It is strangely comforting to know that Mr Batten has found such an important and worthwhile new use for it.