Home helps crisis

This news comes after Lancashire County Council put forward proposals to close 35 of the county's 48 residential homes for the elderly in a bid to allow elderly people to keep their independence at home for longer.

Steven Bate, chairman of Blackpool Liberal Democrats, told The Citizen he had heard from several sources that 350 home helps, who were providing on average 20 hours per week of home care services, had been reduced to 103 since Mr Steve Pullen had become director of social services.

Mr Bate went on: "If the Labour leadership of Blackpool Council approved these cuts then it is a disgrace. They said the care homes were being closed to enable more resources to go to care for people in their own homes.

"If this has been done without council approval then it is even more disgraceful. Do they have any idea what is being done by the officers running Blackpool Council?"

Mr Pullen, asked if the figures were correct, said: "We are now providing more home care than has ever been provided." He added that the drop in figures was due to a re-shuffle and diversification of the job.

He went on: "Yes, the number is probably correct but more importantly we have increased by 33 per cent the number of home care hours provided in the time that Blackpool has been running social services.

"It has been achieved in various ways. Some have been transferred from home care services to children's services and some to rehabilitation centres. There were also a lot of home helpers who were working short hours. We have now given longer hours to fewer people.

"Also far more people are using home care provided contractors."

Council leader Roy Fisher said he thought the drop was largely due to people resigning.

He said: "There has been a number of home helps who have left the job. I met with the unions and Mr Pullen last week and we discussed this issue and ways we could try to remedy the situation."