AN INVESTIGATION has been launched into allegations that a company allowed carers to go into vulnerable people's homes without criminal background checks.

Bloomsbury Worcestershire has admitted that one of its former carers carried out home visits alone, before passing a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

However, whistleblowers claim that several other carers entered properties on their own - and without DBS clearance - raising concerns about the safety of vulnerable adults.

One ex-employee told the Worcester News that as recently as this year she had carried out solo home visits despite not having a DBS.

She added: "I could have had a criminal offence. I could have abused old people in the past.

“It’s illegal to go into houses without DBSs. I think it is still going on. These are old people, they can’t defend themselves.

"There are workers out there that don’t have childminders for their children and they are taking their children to people’s houses. They are in Worcester.

“All this just because they are short-staffed. It’s absolutely shambolic."

The worker has reported Bloomsbury Worcestershire, based in Barbourne Road, Worcester, to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), a regulator for care companies, and the county council's social services department.

She added that almost 80 per cent of her work for the company was in Worcester, while the rest was in areas surrounding the city.

Another ex-carer told the Worcester News: "When I first started working at Bloomsbury I didn't have a DBS.

"I joined last year and got a DBS eight weeks after I started. I probably did about two [home visits] a day without anyone else being there. I did that for about eight weeks.

"I'd never worked in care before. I never went through a Safeguarding Of Vulnerable Adults (SOVA) test. I had manual handling training and that was it."

Another whistleblower told the Worcester News that up to 10 workers were missing DBSs when she joined the company.

Several former employees of the company claimed that bosses sometimes withheld money from them, due to disputes arising from their log-in system.

The carers registered home visits with an app on their work phones, which they put on a 'tag log' in a patient's home.

However, they complained that their phones would sometimes run out of battery, which meant they were not paid for certain jobs as they could not log out when leaving.

The group of ex-employees said they lost more than £700 in earnings last month, solely because of this problem.

The workers added that they had reported this issue to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS).

The CQC and Worcestershire County Council confirmed that they were investigating allegations about Bloomsbury Worcestershire.

A spokesman for the CQC said: "The CQC received anonymous information regarding concerns surrounding DBS checks last week and has carried out an inspection at Bloomsbury Worcestershire.

"We are considering next steps with regard to our inspection findings. Our inspection will be published in due course.”

Nick Christodoulou, CEO of Bloomsbury Home Care, which runs Bloomsbury Worcestershire, said all of the company's current workers in the county have DBSs.

He said Bloomsbury has a long-standing policy of only allowing workers to go into homes without DBSs if they have passed a SOVA test - and are accompanied by an employee who has a DBS - or if they have a current DBS from a similar industry.

Mr Christodoulou added that the alleged issues would have taken place under a former branch manager, who parted company with Bloomsbury about a month ago.

After reviewing workers' files, the CEO revealed that a carer who started work this year was sent out on home visits alone and without a DBS.

However, he said he could not find any other cases of workers that started last year not having DBSs, although he added that the files for two workers were missing.

Mr Christodoulou said the controversial log-in system used by staff was crucial because it let the company know if a carer had not arrived at a job.

He added: "It's also crucial for people to log out as it tells us how long was spent at a call. Worcestershire County Council will be absolutely on the ball if we are spending only five minutes at a house and we are commissioned for 45 minutes.

"We saw people who logged in but hadn't logged out and we paid them for the 45 minutes. If your battery is running out, I'm sorry [but] make sure you go out with a fully charged battery."

He said Bloomsbury recently stopped paying employees for certain jobs if they failed to log out when leaving the property.

Up to 50 per cent of home visits were not properly logged before the measure, however this has now dropped to around 10 per cent, according to Bloomsbury.

Mr Christodoulou added that prospective employees need to provide references from their current and past employers, and pass a test and an interview, before they are hired.

The CEO also said it was 'absolutely forbidden' for workers to take anyone else, such as a child, into a customer's home.

He denied that the company was short-staffed.