CLAIMS vulnerable people are treated "like cattle" in Worcestershire have been refuted by council chiefs - who say more cash is being spent on them than ever.

As the Worcester News revealed last week, 348 people who qualify for home visits are having it restricted to a 15-minute maximum by the county council, despite concern it is failing the elderly.

The figure is from a total of more than 2,300 vulnerable people, mainly pensioners, who get personal callers, costing taxpayers £14.3 million a year.

Unison has called for the practice of 15-minute time limits to end, saying 74 per cent of councils are still commissioning them despite concern from the Care Quality Commission.

Councillor Simon Geraghty, the leader, said: "My own view is that we do a hell of a lot of good work in reaching the most vulnerable people in society.

"We spend a lot of money on it - 60 per cent of our budget goes on the vulnerable, children and adults, in Worcestershire - and that's not going to change."

He also said the wider context of most people getting longer visits - which often go beyond 30 minutes - is important.

"There's a context to it which is quite important - there are different types of care visits for different needs," he said.

"Yes, there are probably hundreds of people (who get calls timed to 15 minutes or less), but it's not the case for thousands of others.

"We should be proud of helping the most vulnerable in society with significant resource - that's a good thing."

Last week Councillor Peter McDonald, the Labour group's leader, said too many vulnerable people were treated "like cattle" and demanded that the 15 minute time limits should be scrapped.

The aim of the personal callers is to keep people out of residential and nursing care by visiting vulnerable people to help with tasks like washing, medication, dressing, cleaning and welfare checks.

The work is contracted to outside providers, with bosses at County Hall saying the 15-minute time limit only applies to people who "do not need personal care but require support such as medication checks and checking on their welfare" - drawing a distinction between the two groups.

Peter Pinfield, from the watchdog Healthwatch, has called for the 15-minute visits to be done away with completely, a view backed up by Worcestershire's Pensioners Action Group.

The number of 2,300 people getting home visits also include some disabled adults of working age.