WITH all that has been said about in-house Domiciliary Care I feel it is time for me to give people the facts.
The total care hours provided in Swindon are 9,000 with only 500 being provided by council care workers. The cost of these 500 hours is £1,300,000. The private sector can provide the same hours for £350,000 and you the tax payer have been paying the difference of £850,000.
The reason for moving the service to outside providers is the poor performance of the in-house service in hours delivered. The 500 hours should be 1,800 hours and this is causing unnecessary costs to the department and the tax payer. This under performance was indicated to them in June 2010 and only a slight improvement has been made since that date.
The private sector accounts for 94 per cent of the total care in Swindon, the problem lies with the other 6 per cent.
To say that the private sector care is below standard is just not true. They are governed by the same standards and rules as the council workers and have attained the same ratings from the government inspectors.
No council care worker should find themselves out of work; there are at least 73 vacancies for care workers in Swindon.
Finally, we have made no cuts in the service nor do we intend to do so, what we are doing is ensuring we can meet the huge increase in Adult Social Care that is predicted for the future.
(Coun) PETER MALLINSON
The Bramptons
Swindon
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