Uproar over home care reports
Committtee‘kept in dark’
A “damning” report into home care services in Hamilton has revealed seven years of failings were kept quiet from scrutiny.
One councillor described it as “a joke” that South Lanarkshire Council’s social work committee had been kept in the dark.
And Councillor John Bradley – chair of the committee – was forced to deny that there was a “hidden agenda”.
Cllr Bradley admitted that the council had not been in the habit of bringing negative Care Inspectorate reports before the committee but insisted: “We are not trying to minimise this report.”
The report was published on the Care Inspectorate’s website after an inspection earlier this year.
Following previous inspections, SLC were required to improve 10 areas of the home care service and three recommendations had also been made, but not one had been met by the time of the most recent report in March 2019.
Cllr Joe Lowe (Hamilton South) said the staff had been “screaming out for years at how bad Hamilton is”.
He added: “It is a joke, we are a joke. This is us only getting told just now? It’s a disgrace.
“It is seven years down the line and now we are getting told about it. We are not being told what we should be being told.”
Rutherglen South councillor Robert Brown was shocked by the magnitude of the report, which ranked the quality of care and support as well as the quality of management and leadership as unsatisfactory – the lowest possible rating.
Cllr Brown said: “The more I hear about this, the hair on the back of my neck stands up.
“I am astonished at the phraseology that the committee ‘might’ want this reported.
“Why has this matter not come before committee before? This is the sort of thing committee should be aware of.”
The report was raised by Cllr Alan Falconer (Hamilton West and Earnock) who felt that Cllr Bradley hadn’t dealt with it in the most appropriate manner. He said: “With respect chair, I think you have tried to neuter the item of urgent business.”
Cllr Margaret B Walker (Cambuslang West) asked: “Could we have a fully detailed implementation plan about how we are going to resolve this very serious issue?
“We are putting people in an extremely dangerous position.”
She added that the council “can’t push forward” with its care service modernisation if they cannot improve the service in Hamilton.
Feeling a consensus among elected members, Cllr Brown tabled a motion which was unanimously supported.
It stated: committee“1. Expresses its extreme concern at the Care Inspectorate report into the Hamilton Home Care Service;
“2. Requires a full report to the next meeting into the issues raised in the Care Inspectorate report and the actions being “That the social work taken to resolve them including the Action Plan referred to by officials;
“3. Requires officials in future to report to the committee as soon as possible on any adverse inspection reports relating to social work services.”
Director for health and social care Val de Souza said: “In terms of reporting, it has not been adequate. The issues around Hamilton are not the same as the whole council. They have been difficult to uncover. We need to spend more time working out what the problems are.
“Over the last couple of years, we have been working very hard to get beneath some of the issues. It will take time.”