Council to pay £10k after Ombudsman investigation finds visually impaired woman left without support

An investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found that Leicestershire County Council left a visually impaired woman without the day-to-day support she needed for 21 months.

The investigation also found fault with the way the council handled its financial assessments including arranging the woman’s personal budget.

Following the report, Leicestershire has agreed to the Ombudsman’s recommendations to improve how it prepares social care and support plans.

The Ombudsman was asked to investigate the woman’s situation by a representative of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) who supported her through the process, after it first complained to the council on her behalf.

The woman behind the complaint had looked after herself without support for a significant period, which left her at risk of burning herself when cooking and falling.

She was also not provided with support to access the community and do her shopping, which increased the isolation she felt, the report noted.

The Ombudsman’s investigation found that in March 2020, the woman was assessed as having eligible support needs in areas including food, personal hygiene, being able to use her home safely and accessing the community.

Despite this, no support was offered to her until April 2021 when the council agreed to set her a personal budget for 12 hours a week support.

Further assessments were made, and the council finally agreed a package of support which started at the end of January 2022, the Ombudsman report noted.

Following the RNIB’s initial complaint, the council said the woman had declined support during the pandemic, but the report stated that during the investigation it became clear this was not the case.

The Ombudsman’s investigation criticised the council for the lack of support it provided to the woman and for the delays she faced when the council assessed her care needs and prepared her care and support plan.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “The lack of social care support over 21 months has had a significant impact on this woman’s life – she has burnt herself frequently when trying to cook and has also had several falls.

“She has also not been able to socialise without the support which she was entitled to, and this has led to her feeling isolated and lonely.

“I’m pleased Leicestershire County Council has accepted the recommendations I have made to improve its processes. I hope the changes it will make on the back of this woman’s case will ensure other people with eligible needs are not left to fend for themselves without the support they need in future.”

In this case, the council has agreed to apologise to the woman and pay her £2,500 for the distress and risk of harm to which she was exposed. It will also pay her £7,220 for the services she missed out on and a further £300 to recognise her distress and frustration with the delay in arranging social care support.

Furthermore, the council has agreed to review its processes to ensure preparing care and support plans for residents with eligible care needs is an integral part of the assessment process, and to make frontline staff aware of the timescales.

Leicestershire County Council will review all care needs assessments completed between March 2020 and March 2021 to identify any where no support was provided, despite eligible care needs being identified.

It will also remind relevant staff of the need to keep records when making decisions for disability related expenditure and waiving care charges.

A spokesperson for Leicestershire County Council said: “As the report outlines, we fully accept the findings of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and we are now actively working on the remedies and will provide a further update within the timescales set out. We take all complaints extremely seriously and lessons can be learned from complaints that were upheld.  They can be valuable in helping to identify recurring or underlying problems as well as potential improvements.”

Lottie Winson