In business to care?

SIR - I write to respond to the lady who wrote in regarding the ill treatment of her relative at the hands of Plan Personnel.

I write as a former employee. I am not making excuses, but she has failed to understand the underlining fact that Plan Personnel is a business first and care agency second.

As is the case with all businesses, the ultimate aim is to earn as much profit as they can.

So what is the best way to earn money from an industry such as home care?

The simple answer is to provide little training, pay as low wages as possible, expect care workers to fork out for their own expenses and have ill-qualified staff manning the offices.

While Plan Personnel may of got four out of five zero ratings, it still managed to perform better than the care company that Adult Care Services gave the contract for East Herts to (Care UK), so they shouldn't feel that bad about it!

It appears even our own Mr Shapps appears not to mind as I wrote to him raising several issues about home care; four weeks on I have yet to get a reply.

While we continue to treat the welfare of the vulnerable of not just Welwyn Hatfield, but nationally, as some business, the quality of the care they relieve is miles below what it should be.

Most worrying though is that we are all aware of what is going on in the world of home care (as pointed out brilliantly by the BBC's Panorama programme recently) yet no one does anything.

It's about time ACS understood that selling the well being of vulnerable adults off too the cheapest bidder is not working.

As is the case with health care and child welfare, some services cannot be run as a business as the quality of the service provided cannot come second to profit.

It's the system that needs changing, not just the care agencies.

Jamie Stone,

Batford Close, WGC.