Camden New Journal - by PAUL KEILTHY Published: 20 September 2007
Centenarian Adrienne Shreiner with Joe McConnell, who is fighting her case
Who’ll care for Adrienne, 100?
‘They want to look after us on the cheap’ – pensioner fears impact of cuts
A 100-YEAR-OLD pensioner could lose her carer who she has known for more than two decades under plans to farm out home care services to outside agencies. More than 80 council-employed carers could lose their jobs in the changeover.
The council’s home-care contract is already half-way through the tendering process, with the results expected next month.
Last night (Wednesday) Camden’s social services chief Councillor Martin Davies moved to calm fears that clients and carers will be separated: “We would work with agencies to make sure they have continuity.”
But carers and clients fear the Town Hall’s drive to save money will lead them to pick the cheapest bidder, which may result in a lower standard of care.
Adrienne Shreiner, 100, has been visited by carer Michael Fenner for more than 20 years.
If an agency wins the contract, Mr Fenner will more than likely be replaced by a carer Mrs Shreiner does not know.
She said: “I want to keep the system we have now. Now, they listen to you. But when we have the new system it won’t be nice. “I worry I’m about to lose my good worker. I can’t move, I can’t go out any more. They want to give us cheap care, and we won’t know who’s coming. I won’t be able to tell them what I want, I won’t even be able to see them.”
Mrs Shreiner, who moved to London from France at 14 and became a haute couture dressmaker, is virtually blind from macular degeneration, while her anaemia has left her bedridden in her home in Bloomsbury.
Her friend, Joe McConnell, who has known her for nearly 30 years and now lives with her, is fighting her corner. “Not everyone has Joe to fight for them,” she said.
Mr McConnell, a journalist, said: “We’re not just concerned with our case. Adrienne wants to protect the service for others. They’ll be affected because many service users are not articulate. The council have a good working system and they’re going to replace it with a cheap system that exploits underpaid workers who will not have the same level of dedication. One vulnerable group will be looking after another.”
He suggested the change-over could hasten ill-health and even death in some clients. “This is going to make many vulnerable people marginalised – they might not end up in a hospital, they might end up dead,” he added.
Cllr Davies insisted the choice would be based on more than money. “I have yet to see a contract that is based purely on price – it’s a factor, but it’s not the only factor.”
He would not confirm whether the current in-house team had bid for the new contract, stating it was commercially sensitive, and added it was up to the primary care trust to put them forward.
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