Published at 15:52, Wednesday, 17 March 2010

CUMBRIA County Council yesterday stepped in to make sure people continue to receive proper home care after a Cleator Moor-based private sector company ran into financial difficulty.

Closer2Home, based at Phoenix Close, would not comment about the problems but The Whitehaven News understands that it could no longer deliver services. Some care staff have left the company after not being paid.

Some 34 residents are affected over a wide area, from Millom to Wigton.

The county council says its rescue packages should ensure that everyone is cared for safely. Closer2Home received a “good” rating from the Quality Care Commission in its last inspection.

In a statement yesterday, the county council told The Whitehaven News: “Closer2Home informed us on Tuesday (March 16) that due to financial problems in the company they would be unable to deliver essential care in line with the contracts they have with us.

“The company has been working closely with the county council’s adult social care team to ensure that service users are informed, information on clients is pulled together for social work teams and vulnerable people are still safe.

“We are pulling together a package of care using its own Cumbria Care staff and other private companies to ensure that the people receiving care through Closer2Home still receive care.

“It may well be the case that carers who had been working for Closer2Home will be employed by other care providers who take on the clients – experience has shown that care staff are very quickly able to find jobs with new employees.

“Cumbria County Council will make every effort to ensure that the companies taking on work are able to offer hours to staff that have been directly affected.

“Obviously making arrangements for a significant number of service users in such a short time, many of whom are in remote locations, is a challenging task requiring a good degree of organisation and co-ordination. We are pleased to report that new care arrangements have already been made for the vast majority and we are not aware of any significant safeguarding problems.”

Closer2Home said yesterday: “The company’s position is currently unclear. We are working with adult social care to ensure all individuals receiving care services continue to do so. We are unable to comment further at this time.”

Anyone with concerns about a vulnerable person can contact the county council’s adult social care section on 01946 506452 (Copeland) or 01900 706325 (Allerdale). The out-of-hours number is 01228 526690.

Published by http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk