A charity has warned people who receive care in their own homes are feeling “abandoned” over support being cut because of the coronavirus crisis.

The Scottish Personal Assistant Employers’ Network (SPAEN) says it has had “numerous contacts” from people using local authority arranged support where care arrangements have been cancelled and support withdrawn at short notice.

It says this has left them and their families feeling “vulnerable, concerned and ‘abandoned’.”

The problem is so far particularly centred on Glasgow, which has cut back to only providing ‘life and limb’ cover in home care, and South Lanarkshire, which says coronavirus is presenting “significant capacity challenges” for care at home services.

South Lanarkshire Health & Social Care Partnership (HSCP) has asked families and carers of those currently in receipt of home care to help with tasks, such as dressing, cleaning and cooking.

Health secretary Jeane Freeman has warned councils against scaling back social care support, with the Scottish Government pledging to meet any additional costs in this area as a result of the pandemic.

But Colin Millar, chief executive of SPAEN, told healthandcare.scot: “We had someone in touch who had a phone call on the Wednesday and the home care stopped on Friday – there was absolutely no alternative offered.

“We appreciate there are folk in critical need – and that is absolutely proper. But at the same time these people have social care needs which have been assessed as eligible for support and that doesn’t go away because circumstances have changed unfortunately.”

He has written to Ms Freeman calling for direct payments to be made available to people and families affected by staffing issues at councils or agencies, to allow them to commission their own help.

The letter stated: “Many of our members have approached us in the last few days concerned that their arranged support is either unable to continue due to isolation, or is at risk of being unavailable in the very near term.

“We’ve also had numerous contacts from people using local authority arranged support (particularly Glasgow and South Lanarkshire) where care arrangements have been cancelled and support withdrawn with short notice, leaving them and their families vulnerable, concerned and feeling “abandoned”.

“I’ve asked the Chief Officers of these HSCPs whether they could make a Direct Payment urgently available to support people and families affected by staffing issues at the council or agency but have not had a positive response.

“With the announcement that all additional expenditure incurred by HSCPs will be met by the Scottish Government in these extraordinary times, I and our members (and non-members currently seeking our support and advice) would welcome Scottish Government guidance or assistance on freeing up financial resource through means of a Direct Payment where existing arrangements are being curtailed or removed at short notice.”

SPAEN, which helps people employ personal assistants (PAs), is working with other charities to promote an emergency register to enable people to access potential carers in their community and address gaps in social care as a result of the covid-19 epidemic.

However the letter added: “This has been going well but without the funds, people will not be able to benefit from these efforts.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Health Secretary has been absolutely clear that the financial support requested by local authorities to meet the additional demands from coronavirus will be met by the Scottish Government.

“The care at home sector is vital and it is essential that it continues to function in an effective way so people and communities are supported in the right way.

“Extensive work is underway with our partners to increase social care workforce capacity. This includes funding from the Scottish Government to local authorities to maximise the care available to our communities.

“We expect this will support councils to continue to provide care packages to those who need them.”

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