A man has claimed a care company stopped his mother’s visits when they asked for extra provisions, leading to her suffering a heart attack and a broken hip.

However, Lancashire County Council has said Townfield Care followed all the correct steps with regards to ending its care, and she is now on an appropriate care package.

Kevin Wilkinson’s mum, Marion Wilkinson, has been receiving at home intensive care from Townfield Care for the last five years, with carers visiting her at her house in Isle of Man, Ramsgreave, four times a day.

Several weeks ago, Mr Wilkinson and his family asked for extra visits for his mum, however Townfield said it was no longer able to provide Mrs Wilkinson, 88, with the service and would need to take her off their books so she could be moved onto the correct care package to meet her needs.

Lancashire County Council said the correct protocols had been followed where an increase in care is required, in which the existing care package has to be ended and a new package put in place, which is what happened in Mrs Wilkinson's case.

Mr Wilkinson claimed his mum had been put under undue stress by the change which resulted in her having a heart attack last week, falling out of bed, and breaking her hip.

Mr Wilkinson said: “Around six weeks ago we asked for extra help for my mum, but Townfield said they couldn’t offer my mum any more time on that particular round and gave her notice of her care ending.

“They’ve been caring for her for around five years and this news placed her under so much stress, the stress it caused her was dreadful.

“The stress at ending her care has caused her to have a heart attack in bed, and then she fell out of bed and broke her hip and has been in hospital ever since.

“She has never had any heart problems until now.”

He also said there had been a "lack of compassion" from Townfield Care in handling his mother's change in care.

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A spokesperson for Lancashire County Council said that Mrs Wilkinson’s care package was stopped due to the increase requested and a new package had been sourced for her.

They also said there had been no break in her care except for when she was in hospital.

A spokesperson said: “It is common practice for a care provider to hand back a package of care due to lack of staff capacity where there has been an increase in care needs.

"They are required to give 28 days’ notice for handing back, which allows us as the local authority time to seek alternative source of care.

"This is what happened in the case of Marion Wilkinson, who was informed, along with her family, of the changes to her care due to the increased level of care requested.

"A new care package was sourced to meet this increase in care and was due to start last week, however this could not commence after Marion was admitted to hospital.

"Following this unfortunate development, we have put in place a new care package to allow Marion continue her recovery at home once she has been discharged."

A spokesperson for Townfield Care said: “We’re very sorry to hear what has happened to Marion, our carers have been looking after her for five years.

“Unfortunately, Marion became in a position to require additional services we were unable to provide, so social services, who employ us in this case, found her another provider.”