A man who has lived in Chislehurst all his life has started a social care service after struggling to find the right support for his grandad who had dementia.

James Bowdler, 30, says PrimeCarers was set up to connect clients and carers by eliminating agencies.

"Agencies are great, and they are fabulous at what they do," James told News Shopper. "But they don’t work for everybody."

He described the frustration of finally finding the right carer for his grandad, only for the agency to move her on shortly afterwards.

The family turned to independent care but found it too risky because of a lack of a vetting process or insurance guarantees.

James said: "My grandad ended up in a home which was incredibly disappointing. People with dementia hold a lot of memories through objects and taking him out of that environment meant he deteriorated rapidly."

He therefore launched PimeCarers so more people could continue living in the comfort of their homes by allowing families to find their own carer.

All carers are vetted and qualified, and clients can choose the person they want to look after their loved one.

"It’s a lot safer and more affordable," James said.

"We make it easy for clients to book, pay and manage care online. Increasingly families are geographically spread out so if you are in Edinburgh, you can use a device to buy care for a parent in south-east London and manage it from there.

"You will get reports and feedback online. All people have to do is go on the website, search their postcode and the carers will come up.

"You can then request a free consultation and choose between the carers."

PrimeCarers currently has 100 insured carers signed up and offers the service in Bromley, Bexley, Greenwich, Lewisham and Croydon.

James intends to expand nationally later in the year and said if a similar service was available when his grandad was alive, it would have prevented him moving into a home.

He added: "I saw the methods that tech companies were using to connect customers directly with service providers and realised that it could be a model for providing affordable care.

"PrimeCarers is also a great work platform for carers who can often find the restrictions of working within the constraints of the agency model difficult to balance."

James is a former healthcare support worker who studied economics before being a consultant for an assisted living provider.