Patients in a huge swathe of Scotland’s west Highlands have gone without food and water and missed doses of medication because there are not enough home carers to cover shifts, according to a leaked report seen by the Sunday Herald.

Vulnerable people have been left in bed for hours and had no personal care because Argyll and Bute health and social care partnership (HSCP) is dealing with a “home care crisis in Oban and the surrounding area”.

Minutes of the “Emergency Care at Home Meeting” called on September 12 by the HSCP reveal “the state of home care has reached critical” and the service users are at “high risk”. The leaked HSCP report said: “It is not always possible to ensure all scheduled visits are provided resulting in missed medication, no personal care being provided, clients left in bed for prolonged periods of time and clients going without food or fluids for prolonged periods of time.”

The Scottish Conservatives have said the “shocking report should act as a wake-up call to the Scottish Government” but the SNP has pointed the finger at the HSCP which runs the service.

HSCPs are an amalgamation of council services and NHS services which offer care at home following a referral so that patients can remain “as independent as possible while getting essential support with those things that they need help with”.

However, the report marked “CONFIDENTIAL” shows that the HSCP has failed to provide hundreds of hours of home care to people in desperate need of help to feed, wash and clothe themselves, as well as take vital medication.

An Audit Scotland report released last year found changes to health and social care are not happening fast enough to deal with pressures of an ageing population and a reduction in public spending.

The leaked Argyll and Bute report reveals service users have remained in bed until lunchtime or been put to bed at teatime because there aren’t enough carers. One client who has Parkinson’s disease did not receive morning medication or any food until 11.30am. Another patient was put at risk of receiving the wrong dose because under pressure staff “struggled to determine the exact medication a service user was to be administered”.

The report said the safety of patients is “in jeopardy” and “until a resolution can be identified, agreed and implemented the service users in the community will remain at high risk”.

The report revealed that more than 6,000 hours were unmet since January, an average of 167 hours per week. But the crisis has deepened recently, according to the report, which said 278.5 hours were unmet in each of the last three weeks.

The report stated: “Since week commencing Monday 14th August the home care crisis has reached critical status…(there are) vulnerable clients whose needs are not currently being met.”

The report points the finger at private providers who have been “unable to recruit and retain” home carers. Staff morale at one company is “extremely low and sickness is increasing”.

A damning report into Scotland’s home care service released by trade union Unison found the sector to be at breaking point. Stephen Smellie, Unison Scotland’s depute convener, said staff “are being stretched to the limit, often resulting in their own stress and ill-health”.

Conservative MSP Miles Briggs, who is the shadow health secretary, said: “This is a shocking report, and should act as a wake-up call to the Scottish Government...(which) needs to do more to help support councils deliver care in the community and support vulnerable people.”

SNP councillor for Oban Julie McKenzie said: “It’s obvious to me that the Argyll and Bute HSCP is currently failing some of the most vulnerable people in my community. Life is hard enough for anyone who requires care in their own home and my constituents and their families require a solution and answers.”

The Sunday Herald contacted Argyll and Bute Council, led by a Liberal Democrat/ Conservative/Independent coalition, and a spokesman said “All HSCP enquiries are dealt with by the NHS”.

A spokesman for the NHS said: “We are aware that there are considerable pressures within the homecare service in Oban and we have been working closely with all our partners, including the private providers, to put in place a medium and long term plan to ensure the sustainability of the service. At the same time extra staff have also been drafted in at short notice to ensure that there is adequate cover in place for the coming weeks for those individuals who require homecare.”