A KEY provider of home care to the elderly or disabled has been reprimanded over missed or delayed appointments and is said to have been struggling with staffing, The Argus can reveal.

Such is the concern around Mears, contracted by Brighton and Hove City Council, that the council has stepped in to work with the company on putting extra safeguards in place.

Mears provides help with personal care, cooking, cleaning, medication or shopping to elderly or disabled people in Brighton and Hove.

But the council has told The Argus it is “aware of issues in relation to the Mears Home Care contract and are working closely with the provider on an action plan to address these concern".

There are “a number of issues relating to the delivery of care including staff retention and missed/late calls", the spokesman alleged.

He continued: “We work in close partnership with all home care providers in the city to maintain and improve standards of care for their clients, and our first priority is the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable people in the city.”

In July the Local Government Ombudsman ruled Mears had cancelled care to one woman with little or no notice and carers were unacceptably late, adding; “This is a fault causing injustice".

The ruling added that since the woman’s daughter (referred to as Miss A) complained to the Ombudsman, “there has been a further incident of care cancelled by the Care Provider with little or no notice".

“The Care Provider’s failings caused Miss A inconvenience as their carers enable her to have a break from caring for her mother,” the ombudsman added.

Following the complaint, Mears stopped providing care to the woman altogether, telling The Argus last week: "Unfortunately we found we could not provide the particular service needed. In these circumstances, we felt it better to simply say this, rather than to continue trying but not quite getting to the service level that she needs." A spokesman added they had offered to help find alternative help.

Last month an inquest was told how Mears missed a routine care appointment to Herbert Rogers, 74, on the morning of April 1, meaning he had not been seen by a carer for 24 hours when he was found semi-conscious on the floor that evening, having fallen.

He later died in hospital. His inquest has been adjourned until March.

Brighton and Hove City Council’s lead member for adult social care, Councillor Karen Barford, told the Argus Mears had been “working closely with the council to address the urgent issue of any missed / delayed calls and have put in place immediate measures to address this.”

She added: “This includes the introduction of safeguards to ensure daily handovers in each branch.”

Coun Barford said recruitment and retention of care staff was a national and local issue, which the council had addressed by making contractors pay staff the Foundation Living Wage - higher than the national living wage.

Mears declined to comment further.