A “contingency plan” has been put in place to ensure that those who benefit from a troubled care provider are not left stranded.

Allied Healthcare, which holds a contract with Brent Council, is facing financial difficulties and is looking to sell or transfer its services.

Cllr Harbi Farah, responsible for adult social care at Brent Council, said it had not yet heard of any further developments from the company.

But he insisted that those making use of the services would still receive adequate care in these uncertain times.

“We are implementing our contingency plan to ensure that everyone continues to receive care,” he said.

“This issue has nothing to do with the quality of care, it is about the financial situation at a national level.

“Rest assured we have a plan. Over the past 12 months we have had similar cases – maybe not quite on this scale – and there has been no loss of care.”

He explained that the council was waiting for confirmation from Allied Healthcare that it had either sold its contract to a new provider or returned it to the local authority.

It comes after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published a November report noting that the company had less than a month’s funding in place.

At the time, its chief inspector of adult social care said: “We have not received adequate assurance that the company has, or will have, the ongoing funding or new investment necessary to ensure the business can operate beyond this date.

“We have encouraged Allied Healthcare to provide us with a realistic financially-backed plan to support the future sustainability of the business, and given them every opportunity to do so, but they have failed to provide adequate assurance.”