Care firm defended by worker (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Care firm defended by worker

4:00pm Saturday 28th January 2012 in News

A care worker at the under-fire homecare company being investigated by Wiltshire Council has hit back at the recent criticism.

Enara Complete Care was one of four companies recently awarded contracts by the council to provide care throughout the county.

But the firm was condemned after one of its carers left alone a 76-year-old Chippenham woman, who had a fall on the floor, for almost an hour in December.

Wiltshire Council is investigating the matter.

Now one care worker, who operates in the Corsham area and has worked for the company for two years, has spoken out.

The woman, who refused to be named, said: “That incident was terrible but it was just one person’s mistake and it made everyone else look really bad. If you speak to the clients, they will tell you what a fabulous job we do.

“We are all fantastic carers and we love the job so much. We build up great bonds with the clients and they become like family members to us.

“I want to get the point across because carers and care homes have got a lot of bad press recently.”

Enara, established in 2008, took over Complete Care Wiltshire last year.

The care worker said the transition had not been a happy one for many staff members.

She said: “People back in the offices do not get the blame when things go wrong, it is always the carers. We get blamed when calls are not done on schedule or there is a change of time but it is often not down to us.”