Francesca Williams from Croft Care Shotton Colliery hands over petitions to Durham County Halls Peter Appleton.
Sweeping changes to the delivery of home care services in Durham has resulted in an angry backlash from carers and their clients.
Moves to slash the number of companies and introduce a new contract regime sparked a noisy protest at County Hall yesterday when petitions bearing almost 300 signatures were handed in.
The shake up, which will see the council care company register cut from 42 to 12 has been hailed as a recipe for disaster and one that will lead to a decline in services and loss of jobs.
Protesters made their feelings known in no uncertain terms when they gathered at County Hall to hand over the petitions raised in several areas of the county. They were received by Mr Peter Appleton the authority’s Head of Planning and Performance.
Joan Hendry, a senior carer with Orchard Care, one of the companies affected by the proposed changes, said: “There is absolute dismay about this whole issue and a lot of elderly, disabled and vulnerable people are being put at risk.
Francesca Williams from Croft Care Shotton Colliery makes a point to Durham County Hall's Peter Appleton after handing over the petitions in the company of Joan Hendry (Orchard Care)(left) and Elizabeth Askwith (blonde) from Unique Homecare
“They rely on carers with who they have built up a relationship of trust over many years and this is all going to be swept aside. I know a lot of people are very worried and there are genuine safety concerns involved. The council needs to take that on board and think long and hard about the situation,” said Joan.
Home care, assessed and approved on a case-by-case basis, is provided by the council for approximately 4,000 people under the present arrangements.
A spokesperson for Durham County Council said: “We have written to all home care providers who took part in the recent tendering process for domiciliary care contracts to notify them of the outcome of that process.
As part of the process all parties are now required to observe a 10-day ‘stand-still’ period in order to allow any concerns to be raised before contracts are formally awarded.
Francesca Williams (left) from Croft Care, Shotton Colliery and Joan Hendry representing Orchard Care, Chester le Street. pictured at County Hall with protesters and petitions.
“As we are currently within this 10-day period it would not be appropriate for any parties, including the county council, to comment further. However people can be reassured that there will be no loss of service as a result of these tendering arrangements.”
It is thought details of the new system, and the companies chosen to carry out the care services in the future, will be announced early next week.
The scale of those who will lose out has prompted the current protest. Many clients receiving care, together with their families, are also said to be unhappy with the proposed changes and have added theier names to petitions.
Moves are now being made at grass roots to explore Government regulations that allow those receiving care in the home to have direct payments made to their bank accounts. This then enables them to make their own arrangements for professional care.
A care worker said: “The direct payment scheme is Government led and I know a lot of our clients don’t want a change in carer. We will be pressing the council to provide much more information about the direct payment option and I would think, given the choice, people will want to make their own decisions about who cares for them.”
Photos by Brian Clough
