A CARER looking after vulnerable people in their homes says new management are failing the elderly and disabled.

Service users and their relatives have expressed grave concerns with the quality of a new service provided by Leonard Chesire Disability and Housing 21, which began on April 20.

Appointments have been missed, leaving some bedridden, hungry and without essential medication.

A Housing 21 home carer, who did not want to be named, said that since she joined the company two weeks ago and is worried about the “teething problems” she has experienced.

She said the main problem is that carers are only given 15 minutes to travel from one appointment to the next in Walthamstow by public transport.

She said: “Many clients need to be seen at the same time every day to receive medication and food. But I could be travelling from Wood Street to Blackhorse Road and in reality it can take one hour.

“When I am with a client I am always worrying that I am going to be late for the next one. We want to give the clients the best care but we can’t when we are rushed.”

The woman, who has worked as a carer before, said she is also restricted to spending between 30 minutes and one hour with each client, depending on their needs, during which they have to carry out a number of duties.

She said: “Often you need longer because you want to give them time. You can’t rush them.

“I enjoy home care but at the moment I feel sorry for the clients and for myself because I can’t spend enough time with them.

“These people are vulnerable and I wouldn’t want to be treated like this.”

She added: “I believe it is a staffing issue because they are still recruiting, but they should have sorted these things out before they started the contract with the council.”

The carer added that there needs to be more consistency in the carers allocated to clients so that they can understand their needs better and build up a rapport and understanding of individual needs. A Housing 21 spokeswoman said they are reviewing the rotas to make the system more efficient.

She confirmed that they are still recruiting, but are using staff from their other services to cover the shortfall.

She insisted there has been a “major improvement” in the delivery of its services and improved consistency of carers allocated to individual clients.

She said: “People will start to notice the improved consistency from now onwards.

“Most of our clients have experienced better service as time has progressed.

We do recognise however that given the shaky start it will take a little while for some of the clients to have full confidence in our service, but we will provide the people of Waltham Forest with a much better service than they have had previously.”