FORMER MiHomecare employee Kristina Janulioniene has spoken out in support of carers working for the agency following criticism of its service.

The 38-year-old, originally from Lithuania, worked for the company in Melksham for three years, looking after a number of people in Bowerhill until leaving to become self-employed in February.

She feels she provided the best care she could, but the backlash of complaints from those paying for the service – and the Care Quality Commission report published in March – has left her embarrassed to tell people she worked for them.

The single mother-of-two says the complaints are not a true reflection of the carers, who work tirelessly for the people they care for, but are underpaid and undervalued.

“I was loved by all the clients and it was devastating for me to leave them at the end,” she said. “But I still feel I have to justify myself when I tell someone I worked for MiHomecare, just because no one has ever said it’s not our fault that company is failing.”

Ms Janulioniene would be allocated a schedule on her work phone, telling her how long and where she should be at what time. She was tracked by GPS with five minutes unpaid travel time to get to the next person.

With the pressure of having to provide suitable care in the 15 or 30-minute slots, she often found herself running out of time.

She said: “How can you provide good care in 15 minutes? It’s impossible. That’s why I used to always run late because I couldn’t just walk in, make a sandwich and cup of tea and walk out the door.

“Some of these people see only us all day and don’t see anyone else.”

Ms Janulioniene, of Barnes Wallis Close, who was paid £7.25 an hour, said she was also frequently asked to work overtime because of the quick turnover of staff.

She added: “You finish work and come home and you are scared your phone is going to start ringing again or get messages saying 'please can you come and cover because we have no carers'.”

She also felt her complaints were not taken seriously by management, including comments about care plans and insufficient communication, which left her not knowing about the illness a client faced until she walked through their door.

But she feels the failings are down to the industry as a whole and added: “I think carers are massively underpaid and undervalued, it really is not an easy job. We have no say in anything at all.”

Since Ms Janulioniene left the agency, MiHomecare deputy chief executive Martin Staunton has told Wiltshire Council changes have been made. The company is also being monitored by the council’s Help to Live at Home working group.

A MiHomecare spokesman added: “We take it incredibly seriously if there is a genuine complaint and we do not want our staff to feel under pressure. We address everything on a case by case basis by investigating and speaking to the individual.”