More than 50 council care jobs axed in Dudley

MORE than 50 home care staff who look after Dudley’s elderly people in the community have lost their jobs.

The council has revealed 52 workers have taken voluntary redundancy as the part of the austerity measures imposed by the Government on local authority spending.

Most of the borough’s home care is being taken over by ten private companies, leaving 141 full-time equivalent council staff.

They will concentrate on short term assessment and reablement, care for people with dementia, specialist end of life care and care for people with complex situations, for example where there are safeguarding issues.

The redundancies were criticised by Dudley’s Unison branch secretary Steve Beardsmore, who said he was “deeply concerned” about the effect of job losses both on workers and the public they served.

He added: “The council is only dealing with reputable companies but, as we have seen, some reputable companies go bankrupt and then the council is left to pick up the pieces. It’s a very short-sighted move.”

Councillor Lesley Faulkner, Dudley’s cabinet member for adult and social care, said: “The council has contracts with ten approved home care providers who provide long-term care.

“These approved providers are registered with the Care Quality Commission and have been successful in obtaining the contract with the council. All are regularly monitored to ensure quality care is provided.”