COUNCIL chiefs have attempted to reassure the public after The Northern Echo uncovered hundreds of examples of private firms refusing to provide care for the elderly in their homes.

A Freedom of Information request to Durham County Council, seen by the Echo, showed that between April 1 last year and February 18 this year 356 so-called care packages were refused by providers contracted to the council.

This meant other companies - known as “spot providers” - had to be found at short notice to provide cover.

Durham County Council, which uses a number of different firms to provide domestic care with their responsibilities split into ‘zones’ across the county, said that in these circumstances no-one was left without care.

But one woman, whose case the Echo has been made aware of, said when her elderly husband was discharged from hospital in December last year there were no carers from any source to provide the home care he needed.

She claimed they had been “abandoned” by one firm contracted by the council which was “cherry picking” care packages in more lucrative urban areas ahead of isolated rural locations.

The woman added: “If [these firms] don’t do their job they should lose all of their contract, not just the bits they chose to abandon.”

Earlier this month it was revealed that one home care firm used by Durham County Council, Spanish owned Clece Care, was facing action from regulators after it failed to protect elderly clients living in Gateshead from abuse.

The Care Quality Commission said concerns about staff turnover and resources, ineffective roster management and a lack of a proper system to monitor visits meant people continued to be at risk of neglect.

It also said there was not enough staff and insufficient capacity to consistently deliver people’s care and there was a significant number of times when visits were missed.

One elderly person was left in a chair for several hours and unable to get to their bed after a missed call, while another reportedly had four missed visits in a day, meaning they did not receive their medication.

In April last year Durham County Council commenced a number of new home care contracts with private firms.

Since then at least 79 elderly users have requested a change of provider, although the reasons for this are unknown.

Jane Robinson, head of commissioning in children and adults services at Durham County Council, said: “We successfully commissioned 5,323 care packages between April 1 last year and February 18 this year.

“A number of operational issues can lead to a home care provider being unable to provide a care package, including the time the care is required and the availability of staff with particular skills needed to support a person’s needs.

“This happens in a small number of cases and it is important to say that in these circumstances no one is left without care. We have processes in place to ensure that care packages are covered and that people’s needs are met appropriately.

“We work closely with our providers individually and collectively to address any issues that may affect their capacity to deliver and maintain a stable and diverse market.”

She said the council regularly monitored all of its providers and where there were concerns about the quality of a service appropriate procedures were put in place to address any issues.