Council fined over care delay

The following news story appeared on the BBC website.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/4944288.stm


Council fined over disabled care

Ombudsman Anne Seex criticises the council for delays to care. A council has been criticised for failing to assess the needs of disabled people in Northumberland and leaving them without help for several months. The problem was highlighted after a complaint from a 30-year-old woman wheelchair user with spina bifida. She complained to the Government Ombudsman that Northumberland County Council was forcing her to wait nine months to be assessed for a stairlift. The watchdog found delays for help were widespread and fined the council.
Investigating the complaint Ombudsman Anne Seex, found that other recent patients classed as non-urgent cases, had been forced to wait more than 18 months for their needs to be assessed.

Personal apology

Ms Seex said council chiefs must pay the 30-year-old complainant, known only as Miss Stone, £50 for every month they failed to give her an assessment. In a report released on Wednesday she also ordered council officers to say sorry to her personally and for a backlog of cases be addressed "as a matter of urgency". The council has six months to report its progress in tackling problems. Miss Stones' doctor wrote to the council asking that she be assessed for a stairlift on 17 May 2005. She is still waiting.

Ms Seex concluded delays in assessments were "unacceptable and clearly maladministration".
She said: "The complaint draws attention to a wider problem affecting the well-being of other disabled people in the area." No-one at Northumberland County Council was available for comment, but a letter to Miss Stone said: "It is a matter of regret that the situation was not monitored more closely."