Alleged crisis at borough day centres
Following a series of postings relating to "chaos at Hounslow day centres", Cllr Pamela Fisher, the lead member for health and adult social services at Hounslow Council, would like to set the record straight about a number of the points made."It has never been the intention of the Department to rely on agency staff to provide the escort service. However, as stated at Borough Council and previously, we kept vacancies in the team until we knew how many staff might be facing redundancy in EDS. Three staff have transferred over to my department and we have now advertised for permanent staff. A first round of interviews has taken place and we will continue to work towards having a majority of permanent day centre staff as soon as possible. "In relation to the activities at centres, I am informed by the Life Opportunities Manager that these are continuing albeit that users are not so keen to take out of centre options in the winter. In the manager's view we are currently offering more community based activities than two years ago. "We accept that there have been a few problems for some clients, however most have been outside our control. Of the three we are aware of - one was due to a fatal accident, which caused road chaos; one was due to the breakdown of a bus, and the third was because the driver did not know the route, the last two being EDS' responsibility rather than Housing and Community Services."In relation to journey times, I do not understand why the routes take three hours. If drivers are provided by EDS with clear written instructions, it should be possible to get around much quicker. However I have asked that risk assessments are undertaken so that if there are clients likely to suffer health problems whilst on the transport, that their needs can be addressed."My officers are now meeting regularly with Ken Dunne at the Depot and everyone continues to work hard to resolve any issues as they arise. We all have the needs of the clients at the forefront of our minds "With the poor financial settlement again from the Government, we have no choice but to modernise and the aim with this project is to provide the same level of day service for everyone at reduced cost."
Paul Morris ● 6434d5 Comments