Care services mismanaged

Sir, – The breakdown of service by the private care company in Monifieth, Carnoustie and Arbroath highlighted in your recent article (The Courier, February 20) was predicted last year by Angus health campaigner, Jill Scott, who warned privatising the service and cutting half the staff would result in exactly what has occurred. Only in the doublespeak in Angus Council could they describe it as an “enhanced service”.

Privatising the service and halving the staff was not a decision made by Angus councillors or council officers but a decision made by Ernst and Young, the firm of accountants who were drafted in at a cost of £800,000 to examine the council’s accounts and find out where the millions of pounds in each department was spent.

Montrose councillor, Bill Duff, said that there was no alternative to privatisation as the costs to the council of providing the service was a massive £42 per hour and private provider costs were between £15 and £17.

A huge difference that the councillor explained away by saying that it was caused by mismanagement over a long period of time.

It would appear that the councillor believes there is a statute of limitations on gross mismanagement so that’s all right then.

This period of mismanagement is decades long. If you take the costs for one worker he quoted at 40 hours per week at £42 per hour the cost is staggering – £1,680 per week! Multiply that by the number of employees (180) it adds up to over a third of a million pounds a week in wages alone.

It’s easy to see why the Health and Social Care Partnership saw the only way out from this was as one councillor suggested, to cut and run. These costs were as councillor Duff said only picked up by what he referred to as “outside eyes” (Ernst and Young accountants). Where were the inside eyes that should have picked up that these massive costs were unsustainable?

If the tens of millions of pounds wasted over decades were picked up by the head of department would the slashing of social care services to the most vulnerable people in Angus need to have gone ahead? These department heads should be replaced.

In no other walk of life would incompetence on that scale be accepted.

Why has no councillor called for disciplinary procedures to be implemented? Robert Alexander. 39 Barry Road, Carnoustie.