Josh Barr, 31, is meant to receive daily one-to-one help from private care company Precious Homes.
He needs support with daily tasks including communication, taking medication, cooking, and going outside. The local council pays Precious Homes £66,000 a year – not including accommodation costs – to provide him with six hours of daily support, as well as helping prepare meals.
Secret camera footage obtained by ITV News from inside Josh’s supported living flat reveals he is not receiving the care the council is paying for. Across a ten-day period in June, it showed Josh received less than half of his paid support hours.
His support plan states a support worker should be with him five days a week from 10am to 4pm, supporting him to exercise, to go out, make meals and take his medication, but the footage shows Josh never left the flat with his carers; was never helped with meal preparation and on one occasion was given the wrong medication.
On one day where Josh should have received six hours of support, a staff member popped in for just ten minutes. He spent his days mostly alone, on his sofa or asleep. They never once showed up on time at 10am to support him.
“It’s just dehumanising,” Josh tells us.
“I just don’t know how I can keep doing it. I am a human being, and even though I can come across as able, that’s far from the truth. I wish I could be able.”
His mum Lisa contacted ITV News with serious concerns about her son’s welfare, after she says attempts to raise concerns with the care company have made little difference.
“Josh is now around 24 stone,” says Lisa. She believes Josh has put on around six stone since moving into his current placement with Precious Homes, less than two years ago.
“He has regressed into himself. If it carries on, Josh won’t be here. He won’t be with us at all.”
“I don’t like to use the word suicide, but I think Josh would go down that route because it’s a hopeless situation that he is in.”
Like the vast majority of care and support for adults up to 64 years old, Josh’s care is funded by his local authority.
Reacting to the findings, Patrick Harley, the leader of Dudley Council, said an investigation was now underway.
“I am really upset and horrified. Clearly, something has gone wrong here,” he said.
“There’s not a council in England that isn’t struggling with finances and a large portion of that is down to adult social care costs.”
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