A MELKSHAM care agency which has received another damning report from health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said this week it would no longer be taking a council contract to provide home care – but Wiltshire Council said it had pulled the plug on the contract because of its concerns.

MiHomecare, which serves 220 people across the county, was yet again found to be providing an inadequate service, putting people under its charge “at risk of significant harm”.

The care agency has placed the blame for its poor performance on the package provided by Wiltshire Council, which they felt made it difficult to recruit staff, and says it decided it would not be re-tendering for the contract when it comes to an end in September. However the authority say they themselves cancelled the contract over concerns regarding the agency’s performance.

Cllr Jerry Wickham, cabinet member for adult social services, said: “We have recently appointed a contractor to deliver services to older people in their homes based, above all else, on the outcomes for the individual.

“We believe these new arrangements will put the customer’s needs first, and we will be working hard with the contractor to ensure the customer is at the heart of everything we do.

“We did not renew the contract with MiHomecare due to our concerns about the service being provided to local people and an inadequate CQC report.”

In the April inspection, MiHomecare was deemed to be inadequate in four of the five major categories, including safety and effectiveness.

Staff shortage concerns were raised throughout the report, which detailed how action was not always taken if staff were not unable to gain access to a person’s home creating a potentially unsafe situation.

A spokesman for the care agency said: “Customer safety is paramount to us and we recognise that a difficulty to recruit care workers in the area has resulted in service failings.

“We have chosen not to re-tender for this contract.” in recognition of the recruitment difficulties and the impact this is having on service.”

“However, the care and safety of our service users remains our priority and we will continue to work closely with the council to address the areas that require improvement over the remainder of the contract.

“We are committed to paying wage rates which will support our drive to attract and retain the best care workers, as this is key to providing the highest quality care for our service users.

“This is why, going forward, our approach is to work with clients who are prepared to pay sustainable rates for care.”