Adult Care run on 'spin and optimism'

Father Paul Daly, Parish Priest of Saint Joseph's RC, Heywood

In a damning post on the Rochdale Online message board, Parish Priest of St Joseph's RC Church in Heywood, Father Paul Daly has accused the council cabinet member responsible for adult care of spin and running the adult care service on "optimism".

In his report to the council Councillor Mulgrew said: "The inspectors also judged that the service has ‘excellent prospects of improvement’, which is an extremely rare judgment as Rochdale only shares this distinction with one other local authority."

Father Daly class this "spin at its best", adding: "Claiming that a verdict of satisfactory with excellent prospects of improvement, i.e. they might make 'good' next time round, is a mark of distinction is patently absurd."

However Father Daly's is more concerned with the effect the 'privatisation' of the service is having on vulnerable adults, pointing to another extract from Councillor Mulgrew's report in which he says: "Unfortunately, the process has highlighted once more the inadequacy of the local market to fulfil our expectations on quality, as we strive to improve the home care services that the Council provides. As a result there will be a number of local providers who will not qualify for our preferred providers list", Father Daly responds: "Which is surely an admission that Rochdale Lib Dem council dismantled its own provision for long-term adult care WITHOUT ensuring that all of the 'local market' was able 'to fulfil our expectations on quality.'

"Why has this only come to light? Has the Council has been using these private companies?

"If so, that is a shocking admission from the Cabinet Member responsible.

"Are the Lib Dems taking credit for admitting that they have placed some of our vulnerable elderly people in poor quality care and have only just realised this?"

"Those firms which were caring for our vulnerable elderly and have not passed the re-tendering process, have been less than competent, not fully trained, unsafe and unsure of adult safeguarding? Dale, have such firms have been looking after Rochdale folk?"

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/forum/topic.asp