City of York Council is aiming to improve  the supply of home care services in the west of the city with the appointment of an additional home care provider.

The council reorganised the way that it provides home care services in 2006 following an in-depth review.  About half of the home care and support services commissioned by the council  is provided by its own in-house adult social services team, with the rest provided by three independent care teams:
- York Helpers in the north east of the city
- Carewatch Care Services in the south east of the city
- Goldsborough in the west of the city

Bill Hodson, director of Adult Social Services at the council, said: "Things have worked out well in two of the three localities, but Goldsborough have had problems in recruiting sufficient care staff to provide all the care needed in the West area. We wanted to allow sufficient time for the new arrangements to settle in before reviewing the changes made last December.  The issue is not about the quality of care provided, but the volume of care they are able to supply.

"Following discussions with Goldsborough, we concluded that the best option was  to bring in another team to work alongside them in the west locality. This will enable Goldsborough to focus on the services that it currently provides, whilst the second team can bring additional resources to meet the needs of other customers in the west."

Following a tender exercise, Riccall Carers, an established local firm, has been appointed to provide home care in the west of the city, working alongside Goldsborough.  Recruitment has been going well and the service should be up and running by July. However, existing customers will not see a change to their care providers.

Bill Hodson added: "We have sent a letter to customers explaining the proposals and there will be no disruption for existing customers of Goldsborough as they will continue to receive their care as at present.

"Our aim is to provide high quality care and support to our customers across the city, whether that's through the council's own in-house team, or through our care partners. We hope that the additional care team will help achieve this."