Central Bedfordshire Council has to pay a woman £7,000 after inadequate assessments left her without proper care for more than two years.
The woman complained about the way the council administered her direct payments and that it did not follow its complaints procedure when investigating her complaint. She claimed that this caused her significant avoidable distress, and meant she has not had as much care as she should have had.
The Local Government Ombudsman upheld the complaint and recommended the Council should:
- apologise to the woman;
- confirm immediately that it will not seek to reclaim any unpaid contributions from her, and write off any debts it is currently seeking to recover;
- arrange for an independent social worker to carry out a new care needs assessment and prepare a new support plan, without delay;
- set up a clear working agreement for future reviews and monitoring;
- reconsider the woman's disability related expenditure and provide a clear explanation of why it does not consider some costs arise from the disability;
- pay the woman
- £5,000 to acknowledge the impact on her of being without adequate care and support for over two years; and
- £2,000 to acknowledge the avoidable distress and frustration the council's faults have caused her.
The ombudsman warned that local authorities must help disabled people negotiate the complex disability payments system
This case is not just about a poor assessment of needs. It is also about the failure of the Council to keep adequate records, the complexity of the community care charging system, and the failure to take into account all disability related expenditure. It comes as no surprise to Disability Rights UK as we hear many similar stories from people contacting our personal budgets helpline. Our key advice to any disabled person who receives support from their local authority ALWAYS GET LOCAL AUTHORITY DECISIONS IN WRITING.
If you have a problem with your care package contact out Personal Budgets Helpline
See also:
- Factsheet F3 - non-residential charges: paying towards the cost of your care and support at home
- Factsheet F6 - complaining about local authority decisions
- Factsheet F41 - personalisation – personal health budgets
- Factsheet F48 - assessment, eligibility and support planning
- Factsheet F72 - personal budgets:the right social care support