AN ELDERLY man from Dursley was forced to spend the entire day in bed after the care company employed to look after him was so short-staffed it was unable to provide proper care for its clients in the town.

Guinness Care provides support for about two dozen people in Dursley through its subsidiary Independent Home Life Services, but a 'restructuring' in August resulted in many of its employees in the area leaving.

This came to a head on Friday when the company was unable to provide care in the town due to staff sickness.

As a result, one Dursley man who requires support from two carers three times a day to move around was forced to spend the entire day stuck in bed until carers arrived the following morning.

His daughter said she was “furious” with the situation which had “stripped the dignity away” from people relying on its care in Dursley.

“This company provides care for 25 people in Dursley and those people have been royally let down.

“My dad requires two professional carers and a hoist to get around at home so it is vital that we have them.

“The situation he was left in was horrendous. What good does being stuck in bed all day do to someone?

“In August most of their carers left leaving them very thin on the ground. I’ve lost all the trust I had in them and would imagine this will happen again.”

With Independent Home Life Services unable to guarantee that it would be able to organise carers over the weekend, she arranged for cover with a different company before the firm took back care responsibilities from Monday lunchtime.

A spokeswoman for Independent Home Life Services said: “Providing high quality care for our customers is our top priority and all of our customers in Dursley received care visits on Friday. 

“However, due to an unexpectedly high level of staff sickness at short notice, we alerted the local authority and re-planned our resources. 

“We pride ourselves on being a good employer and have a dedicated and skilled workforce providing care services.”

The company is contracted by Gloucestershire County Council to provide its home care in the area.

It contacted the council on Thursday evening to say that staff shortages meant that it would not be able to carry out its responsibilities the next day.

Following this, the council arranged for a visit to be carried out on Friday but could not arrange for two carers to be available to assist the man from his bed.

Cllr Kathy Williams, cabinet member for adult social care at Gloucestershire County Council, said that they were “let down” by the company.

“We were told on Thursday evening that one of our adult social care providers had a shortage of staff due to illness,” she said.

“We’re disappointed that we’ve been let down at such short notice. 

“However, our staff and partners worked quickly to keep services available and arrange replacement care. 

“We’ll work with partners and families to continue the care for the rest of the week and over the weekend. 

“Our priority, as always, is the health and wellbeing of the people that depend on our services.”