Stockport council has apologised to an autistic man with a history of self-harm after causing him ‘distress, uncertainty and frustration’ by closing his care case without telling him. The authority - which has been ordered to pay the man £250 in compensation - also delayed his support following a re-referral, during which time the police and ambulance services were called to him several times.
It also failed to tell him when funding for counselling sessions was secured, an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) has found. The council says the LGO is now satisfied that ‘all necessary actions’ have been taken and it will continue to support the man with his social care ‘going forward’.
It comes after a report from the LGO said the council was responsible for ‘fault causing injustice’ to the man, whom it refers to as ‘Mr X’. “The council was at fault when it closed Mr X’s case then delayed providing support and failed to inform him when funding for counselling was secured,” the report says.
READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community
“It has agreed to apologise and make a payment to acknowledge the uncertainty and frustration these faults caused Mr X and refer Mr X for counselling.”
In April 2022, a social worker carried out an assessment of Mr X, which found he was socially isolated and had a history of self-harm and self-neglect. He needed help with accessing the community, developing or maintaining relationships and support with accessing money and shopping.
The social worker recommended Mr X attend day services two days a week to help with these issues - taking him to view service and arranging a trial visit for early May. Following the trial day, the social worker noted Mr X had a positive day and agreed to explore whether they could arrange a regular taxi driver to take him.
However, when the social worker contacted Mr X in early May to discuss transport options, he said he did not know if he wanted to attend and was unhappy about the cost of his contribution towards the care. Two days later Mr X was admitted to hospital after threatening self-harm. Following his discharge, the social worker visited him and discussed the day services.
Mr X said he was unsure if he wanted to go, adding that his social worker’s presence was making him worse and referring to self-harm. They contacted their supervisor who called 999. Mr X was taken to hospital but returned home. When the supervisor next spoke to Mr X he said he wanted a different social worker but would like to pursue the day service - although he thought it was expensive.
He also said he would like to try counselling again - as long as it was with a different counsellor to the one he had previously. The following day the supervisor spoke with Mr X’s mother who said she had a discussion with Mr X and he did not want to attend the day service or use a car scheme.
They then spoke with the social worker and advised them to close the case following contact with Mr X and his mother. In late July Mr X contacted the council to say he was unhappy to learn from his advocate that his case had been closed and he would not be getting a new social worker.
The authority admitted that the supervisor should have contacted Mr X to establish what he wanted to do rather than close his case following discussion with his mother. It also apologised, adding that it would advise its staff of the importance of communication prior to closing a case and the importance of sending a formal closure letter.
In September, Mr X was assigned a social worker from the council’s autism team. They noted Mr X was happy to consider receiving some support and to having counselling again.
However, this social worker left the council in early October 2022 - and Mr X did not find out until he contacted the council with concerns over his housing benefit. Later that month Mr X threatened to self-harm and over the following few days both the police and ambulance service were called out to him several times.
Mr X’s new social worker visited him in November, completing a needs assessment and a support plan. They recommended Mr X receive three four-hour sessions of support per week, which the council has since identified a provider for.
The ombudsman found that the council was at fault for closing Mr X’s case after speaking with his mother, without speaking to him directly.
“At that time Mr X was unsure whether he wished to pursue the day service and had concerns about getting there and I cannot now know, with any certainty, whether Mr X would subsequently have attended the day service at that time,” the report reads.
“In closing the case, the council also failed to consider whether any other support may have appropriate to address his identified care needs.”
The report notes that a support plan is now in place and the council has identified a provider to deliver it.
But it adds: “I cannot know whether, if this had been identified sooner, what would have happened and whether Mr X would have accepted the support. However, had the council not closed his case in June 2022 it is likely Mr X would have had access to some support at least three months earlier.”
The ombudsman also criticises the council for advising Mr X to speak to his GP about counselling in May 2022 - despite having already referred him to a counselling service for which NHS funding was in place.
“The council failed to advise Mr X of this or of what he needed to do to take this forward,” the report adds. “This was fault. This meant Mr X missed out on the opportunity to pursue this counselling.”
The council says it has 'fully assisted the LGO in investigating this complaint and acknowledged the outcome of its enquiry'.
A spokesperson added: "It was confirmed in April that the Ombudsman was assured that all necessary actions had been undertaken and confirmed that it has recorded the matter as ‘Remedy complete and Satisfied’.
“We have apologised to the person concerned and will continue to support them as necessary with their social care going forward.”
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
- “My daughters are frightened”: Terrified mum exposes plague of 'cat-sized' rats causing chaos in neighbourhood
- Gay Village adult store Clonezone attacked for FOURTH time in two months as CCTV captures thugs on red motorbike
- Man and woman arrested on suspicion of attempted murder as victim left fighting for life after intruder attack
- Killing of schoolgirl Emily Jones at hands of paranoid schizophrenic 'could not have been predicted'
- Emergency services swarm street as two people cut from Audi that was flipped over onto roof in crash
