Latest news with #RadisCommunityCare
South Wales Argus
6 days ago
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Monmouthshire council home care review to be discussed
Carers and those they support to remain in their own homes hit out at changes to contracts earlier this year which will see some providers in the south of Monmouthshire change. Due to anger at the changes the council's combined opposition , at a meetng picketed by carers and supporters including clients, forced a review of the contract process and how decisions were made. County councillors will consider a report giving an overview of the process, and lessons already learnt, at a special scrutiny meeting on Wednesday, July 9. The Labour-led council said it retendered domiciliary care contracts as part of a revamp of how care at home is provided and to try better manage costs as well as provide common employment terms for care workers. It divided the south of the county into three areas; Chepstow town and rural, Caldicot town and The Levels and rural with firms awarded one area each as it wanted to move away from buying care packages on an ad-hoc basis. Magor-based Lougher Home Care, which had operated across the area, was awarded the The Levels and rural area which meant it would no longer operate in Caldicot and Chepstow and clients would be allocated new providers. Under the contracts staff are able to transfer with existing terms and conditions protected but many working for Lougher said they didn't want to join either Radis Community Care, that holds the Chepstow contracts, or Care Quality Services that will operate in Calidicot and would likely look for alternative employment outside of care. The council's Conservative opposition also said the changes had resulted in a locally based firm losing contracts to national firms and questioned if the council's procurement process disadvantaged small businesses. No formal challenges to the contract decisions were made under the procurement process by any of the 13 bidders. The council's performance and overview scrutiny committee will consider the report by social services' commissioning manager, Ceri York, at the special meeting. Her report states when contracts were awarded 161 people were written to advising them of a change to their existing provider and 35, or 22 per cent, have since asked about direct payments which allow people to employ the carer of their choice. It also identified ways the procurement process, which was run in partnership with Ardal the body that buys services and products for Monmouthshire, Torfaen, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan councils, could be simplified and run to 'more realistic timescales'. Increased engagement with people using the service could be built into the timeline, the report has suggested, so they would have a say in how the contract process is decided, and it also identified there has been a negative impact on them. It has said earlier engagement with existing providers during the second phase of the process 'may improve cooperation and reduce anxiety'. The report states: 'A robust procurement process has been carried out overseen by Ardal Procurement to ensure that all contract and procurement legislation has been adhered to.' Contracts were awarded in March but service providers aren't due to change until August 19. In line with the full council's decision a review of the council's procurement process in general still has to be carried out.
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Portsmouth care service for vulnerable adults in special measures
A care service that supports vulnerable adults living in their own homes has been put under special measures after being rated "inadequate" by a staff at Radis Community Care, at Caroline Square in Portsmouth, were described as "rude" while others used "derogatory language", inspections by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in January and February report also showed risks to people's health, safety and wellbeing had not always been identified, with some users not receiving their medicines or being left without support to go to the Community Care said it had taken the findings "extremely seriously" and was working on a "robust and urgent improvement plan". The service was providing personal care to 27 people at the time of the inspection, which was the first under its current owner. 'Potential abuse not reported' Neil Cox, CQC deputy director of operations in the south, blamed "ineffective leadership" which had led to "a poor culture and shortfalls in the standard of care provided".He continued: "Staff didn't always recognise or report potential abuse and hadn't escalated safety concerns when they should, which put people at risk of harm."One person had lost consciousness during personal care on two occasions but this hadn't been reported. "Leaders didn't always investigate incidents or share learnings with staff to make improvements."He added staff had highlighted issues with "bullying" and "distrust". Paula Hoggarth, group operations director at Radis Community Care, said: "The safety, dignity and wellbeing of the people we support is - and always will be - our top priority."Since the inspection, we have been working closely with our internal quality and compliance team and external partners to deliver a robust and urgent improvement plan. "We are encouraged by the progress made over the past four months and have met the key improvement milestones set out by the CQC. "Record-keeping, reporting and day-to-day care oversight have significantly improved".The CQC issued four warning notices following the inspection to focus attention on making widespread improvements around safe care and treatment, consent, safeguarding and the management of the service will now be kept monitored to check sufficient improvements have been made. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
