DISABILITY charity Bradnet has brought in its own version of the Tour de France's yellow jersey for its star employee each month.

The first recipient of a sky blue polo shirt is Gill Parsons, who joined the organisation in July and is involved with the charity's Short Breaks programme.

Each month Bradnet's top performer will now receive the distinctive shirt to wear, which is one of many ideas put in place in recent months in a bid to improve the quality of service offered to hundreds of disabled users across the district.

The action plan was introduced in the wake of a scathing inspection by the Care Quality Commission which found its home care for people with learning and physical disabilities, to be inadequate.

Since the ruling at the end of December, which does not relate to the Short Breaks programme, a number of new procedures have been implemented, including a uniform for carers rather than a dress code.

"I'm pleased to have been named Bradnet's first star performer and I'll wear the shirt with pride but there will be no resting on my laurels, " said Mrs Parsons, who has worked in the care sector for the past 35 years and was a finalist in the 2013 Great British Care Awards, while working for Bluebird Care.

Bradnet services director Scott Williams said: "We're continually looking to improve the way we operate. Our staff and volunteers are integral to everything we do and Gill is a very worthy winner of this distinctive polo shirt for the month of February."

The Shorts Breaks programme provides young people living with disabilities across Bradford with a personal assistant for a few hours every week allowing them to engage in their own chosen activities as well as providing respite for parents or carers.

Mr Williams added: "Over the course of the last 12 months our Short Breaks programme has assisted 26 individuals and conducted 1,159 visits. It's a very successful service that is very well received by users and their families."

Bradnet is marking 20 years since its formation and held an annual meeting last month, where members of the public could ask questions of the board.

The CQC findings from the end of December was one topic of discussion at the meeting.

Criticisms in the report, which ruled that Bradnet was failing in several key areas, included service users complaining that staff had not treated them with respect and were rude, and that there was a lack of continuity of staff.

Some users complained staff were often on their mobile phones rather than interacting with those they were providing care for.

Prior to the inspection however, Bradnet voluntarily took steps to give back contracts which were straying into specialist nursing care, rather than personal care only, and also stopped taking new referrals from Bradford Council.

Following the publication of the report, the local authority confirmed it had stopped recommending Bradnet and would continue to do so until the CQC was able to confirm “an acceptable improvement in the quality of services”.