I READ with interest and dismay your article concerning the “appalling” quality of care provided to older residents of Bolton for both council paid and private paid services.

I am co-owner of Home Instead Senior Care in Bolton. We have been providing high quality companionship and personal care to people in their own homes since 2010.

It is sadly not an uncommon experience that socially funded care is often condemned for problems relating to poor management, under-funding, and the willingness of some providers to deliver a substandard service while fulfilling, often, local council contracts. This greatly lets down older, vulnerable people when they need support in their life the most – even for the many older people who are not eligible for state funded social care and pay for their own care service themselves (average price in Bolton £21.60 per hour). This of course, was reflected in the Healthwatch Bolton report last year on home care provision.

Last year, Home Instead in the UK was awarded a Queen's Award for Enterprise for Innovation. This was to acknowledge our achievements in providing a whole new approach to home care. It’s simply to put the client and their needs, front and centre of the process, procedures and structure of the operation. This enables delivery of consistent, extremely high quality care and support delivered by caring and compassionate staff, who are proud to work for us and who put the individual before the task.

I thought it was timely, as we independently survey our clients and caregivers each year to see how we are performing. This year in our report just published, 100 per cent of our clients responding said they would recommend us. At the same time, 98 per cent of our caregivers reported they were “proud to work for Home Instead”. Without a happy workforce, you can’t have happy clients. It is just as important to support your staff as it is your clients.

There are companies who are providing care as it should be but we need to get everyone in the care sector to work together to provide a better care to all older people who need it. I thought you may be interested in one of the genuine success stories in the care sector which proves that stories like todays are not inevitable or universal. Good people are out there.

Steve Williams