Care Alarm Complaint Thrown Out

A council’s decision to charge £1 a week for a medical emergency care alarm service was justified, a watchdog said. The wife of a Parkinson’s Disease sufferer branded the charge an attack on the vulnerable and a breach of free personal care for the elderly. But the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman ruled that Stirling Council was entitled to make the decision. A report published by the ombudsman also cleared the local authority of flouting the free care legislation. The complainer, identified as Mrs C, who is her husband’s primary carer, had a mobile emergency care system (Mecs) installed in their home in 2002. This enabled crisis calls to be picked up 24 hours a day by a council contact centre.

Mrs C complained to the council and later to the ombudsman when the authority decided to introduce a charge of £1 a week, with flexible payment methods.

She claimed the decision discriminated against the most at-risk in the community, adding: “I appreciate that it does cost to supply the service but I don’t think the council could stoop any lower than this, by attacking the most vulnerable in our society.”

Upholding the council’s view, the ombudsman said local authorities were legally allowed to charge for social work services such as Mecs and the free personal care legislation did not change the situation.