Norfolk home care: Care UK Broadland ‘not good enough’
Care UK says it is “determined to resolve the problems” being experienced in Broadland.
Care UK took over visits to 300 clients in Broadland in July. One third of users have now reported a decline in services from the new provider.
Norfolk County Council said the service had “not been good enough”.
A Care UK spokesman apologised for “the problems” and said plans were in place “to resolve the issues”.
The council, which awarded the contract for the Broadland area to Care UK, said it had received complaints that carers were arriving early, up to three hours late, or not at all.
‘Not good enough’
There were also concerns some people were not being given help in taking their medication.
Harold Bodmer, director of community services at Norfolk County Council, told BBC Radio Norfolk: “Sadly, the service has not been good enough for the people who’ve received it and we’re very sorry about that.
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We are well on the way to resolving the issues that some people are experiencing”
Care UK
“We’ve been working very closely with Care UK to improve things… and won’t hesitate, if improvements don’t happen in a very short space of time, to take other action in respect of the contract.”
Care UK, one of the UK’s largest health and social care providers, provides home care for 700 people across Norfolk and has been working in the county for 12 years.
The county council told the BBC the problems being experienced in Broadland were not happening elsewhere in Norfolk.
A spokesman for Care UK said: “We know that some of the people we support have faced disruption to their care, and have not had the continuity of carer they expected, as the transfer has been implemented.
“We apologise and are confident that with additional recruitment and management support, which has already been put in place, we are well on the way to resolving the issues that some people are experiencing.”
He added the organisation was “determined to resolve the problems that have been experienced” to ensure “that everyone has a stable and reliable service in the future.”
