New domiciliary care team appointed for St Helens

A NEW care provider has been appointed by St Helens Council to take over the domiciliary care work for around 250 sick and elderly people across the borough.

Housing 21 will fill the void left by Care UK, a company which decided to pull out of their contract with the authority with four months still to run.

St Helens Council said it had “moved quickly to secure new care provision after Care UK informed the council of their decision earlier this month”.

It added that Housing 21 were selected from “a shortlist of three tried and tested providers”.

Councillor Joe Pearson, who oversees adult social care, said: “We’re delighted that a company with Housing 21’s excellent reputation is taking on this work and we look forward to working with them.

“We’d also like to thank the other two providers who were prepared to work with us to help find a solution.”

The transfer to Housing 21 will take place on Friday, July 15.

St Helens Council says that by then a package of measures will be in place to ensure a smooth transition – which will “include senior management and staff from Care UK working closely with the council and Housing 21 throughout the handover”.

Les Clarke, Housing 21’s director of service, added: “We have a long history of working with St Helens Council to provide high quality care for people choosing to stay in their own homes.

“We are pleased to be offering our service to people in St Helens and the decision to ask Housing 21 to provide this service is a clear recognition of the reliable and quality services we have provided here for many years.”

The council will be providing additional support from 7am to 11pm throughout the transition period and carers from other companies will also be retained as emergency standby cover.