Home Care

Mitch Dow, Argyll and Bute Council’s local team leader for assessment and care management, told the authority’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee that ‘adequate’ gradings – as defined by the Care Inspectorate – were, in his opinion, “unacceptable”.

The committee, which met in Helensburgh on June 14, heard that of the nine ‘care at home’ providers in the local area, one firm had been judged by inspectors to be no more than adequate in three key areas – quality of care, quality of staffing, and quality of management and leadership.

Councillor Aileen Morton told the meeting that the firm in question – M&J Care – had the highest number of commissioned hours of care, according to the latest figures.

Mr Dow said: “[Level] 3 is unacceptable, in my view. Our commissioning team is specifically targeting ‘threes’ and we give them a clear message.

“But sometimes we have to use what we’ve got. Two of our providers are at full capacity and we need to be careful that robustness does not create a gap in the service.”

Council figures show that for the week ending Friday, May 20 - the most recent for which statistics are available – the authority commissioned 1,171.71 hours of care from M&J Care, which received its latest gradings from inspectors in November 2015.

A council spokesperson said: “We are pleased that all of the care contractors used in the Helensburgh and Lomond area have achieved at least a satisfactory grading from their national regulator.

“This is a vote of confidence in the care services provided on behalf of the Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership.

“Like any review, areas for improvement are identified and we are fully committed to working with our care partners to ensure people in Argyll and Bute continue to get what they need.

“This is a top priority for us.”

A spokesperson for M&J Care said it would not be appropriate for the company to comment.