CARE homes across Worcestershire have been warned council workers can check up on them at any time – allaying fears that standards could drop.

It comes after a leading Worcester politician said he feared the county council’s drive towards “privatisation” could harm its efforts to act as a watchdog.

Labour Councillor Alan Amos is concerned that with £98m being cut from County Hall by 2017, it will allow poorly performing care homes to slip through the net.

At the moment, the county council has contracts with more than 200 care homes around Worcestershire, which is steadily growing.

But Coun Amos said efforts to chop £32m from adult services alone by 2017 and reduce staffing could make the council’s control over them worse.

“As we seem to be privatising adult social care, could the cabinet member give us a firm guarantee that all homes are regularly and independently inspected,” he said.

“I also want assurances we have ways of investigating concerns, and that they are looked at promptly and effectively.”

The Conservative leadership says there is “no way” it will ever rely on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) alone.

Councillor Sheila Blagg, the cabinet member for adult social care, said: “There is no point at which we rely purely on the CQC, we do checks all the time to make sure people are satisfied with what goes on.

“We always make sure that we are available and that residents, carers and their relatives can speak to us as well.

“Assessments are key to what these placings are all about – at no point are people put in a care home and forgotten about.

“We have regular inspections regardless.”

The council also runs the Worcestershire care home provider forum, an in-house panel which keeps tabs on standards.

At least 600 job losses are expected at County Hall by 2017, and of that figure about 200 will come from adult services.

The department wants more people to stay in their own homes, but is still intent on scaling down personal care visits from social workers.

Instead, more elderly and vulnerable people will be offered assistive technology.