LGO find Knowsley council fail in care of vulnerable man

For more than two years, Knowsley MBC did not follow proper planning, review and assessment processes for a young man living in supported accommodation, a Local Government Ombudsman investigation has found.

The man, who is in his 20s, has autism, severe learning disabilities and challenging behaviour and had been living in supported accommodation since he left residential school in 2009.

Initially the man, who needs 24 hour support, lived alone with his carers. But 18 months after he first moved into the house, a second supported resident moved in.

The man’s mother complained to the LGO that, for the next two years, her son’s mental and physical health deteriorated. She said his day-to-day activities had been stopped and he was spending too much time alone in his room to get away from his housemate. She was also worried that staff were over-medicating her son to control his behaviour, and had concerns about the restraint staff used when his behaviour deteriorated.

The LGO investigation found that from January 2011 to April 2013 there was no support plan for the man and only one flawed formal review.

The investigation also found the council at fault for not making formal assessments of the man’s capacity to make specific decisions. It also failed to follow correct procedures to ensure actions were taken in his best interests, including when it decided to restrict his freedom.

Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said: “My recently published review of adult social care complaints revealed that assessment and care planning were the most complained about areas, with more than 50 per cent of those complaints that we receive upheld. This case is a further example of the type of issues that we see, and the steps we can take to help put things right.

“In this case, the man should have had a support plan which was reviewed it at least once a year. There were also events throughout the period that that should have triggered additional reviews.”

The LGO has asked the council to review the man’s current assessment and support plan; remind staff of the importance of producing support plans, carrying out reviews and formal capacity assessments, and ensuring decisions on behalf of people lacking capacity are clearly made in those people’s best interests. The council should also review the current placement in accordance with the Deprivation of Liberty code of practice.

The council should pay the man’s father £500 to be spent on activities or equipment for his son and pay his mother £500. The payments are to acknowledge the uncertainty about whether the council’s faults caused them avoidable distress.