A vulnerable man was left without care for several months after a West London council wrongly cut his support. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman ruled that Hillingdon Council must pay the man compensation for distress caused by the care withdrawal.
The man, named only as Mr B in the report, had his care cancelled after the council decided he did not need it. He was then wrongly left without care for three months.
In August 2023, Mr B told the council he was being bullied by a resident in his shared house. The police visited Mr B and his housemate and concluded no further action was necessary.
At the time Mr B was receiving 7 hours of weekly care which included help with meals, housework, shopping and appointments. Shortly after the report of bullying, the council were told by his carers that Mr B could get to the shop himself and make a simple meal.
They also told the council that Mr B sometimes cancelled care, and sometimes went out with carers to help him get to places. In May 2024, Hillingdon Council decided to reassess Mr B’s care needs.
The assessment found that Mr B had some difficulties saying words, he had memory problems, and he could not always understand things said to him. However, they claimed Mr B could give the council all the information needed, but he needed help to go to unfamiliar places or plan social activities.
The council decided Mr B did not need carers to help, and stopped his care in June 2024. Hillingdon Council said it was unclear whether Mr B had been diagnosed with a learning disability.
Mr B complained to the council for stopping his care. He informed them that he needed the care to help him find a new home, to make meals and to support him getting to places. Despite this, the council reaffirmed that he no longer needed care, although it did ask the housing department to support him finding a home.
Mr B undertook a learning disability assessment in August 2024 which confirmed he had a learning disability, an extremely low working memory, and some problems working things out. It also found that he needed help to learn new things.
The council reassessed Mr B again in September 2024, three months after care stopped, and said that ‘it [Hillingdon Council] can now understand how his learning disability affects him’. The council decided to reinstate his care to help him learn how to do things for himself..
The Ombudsman found that the diagnosis of a learning difficulty was not needed to find out whether Mr B had care needs, as the new assessment indicated he still required care. In the time his care was stopped the council left him with no support undertaking his daily tasks.
The council also said that Mr B could get to places by himself but did not say how he would manage that. The Ombudsman said: “The council’s failure to meet Mr B’s care needs from mid-June to mid-September, is fault. This caused Mr B distress and uncertainty. It meant he did not have the support he needed.
The council has agreed to apologise to Mr B and make a symbolic payment of £300 for the distress and uncertainty caused to him by the missed care.
Hillingdon Council said: “We accept the decision of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and have met all the agreed actions in its report. We have apologised to and compensated the complainant for the faults it highlighted. As an organisation, we regularly review internal processes, such as how we assess eligibility of care, to ensure we best serve residents and meet their needs.”
Philip is a Local Democracy Reporter covering Ealing, Hillingdon and Hounslow, with a focus on council decisions, housing, planning, licensing and community stories across west London.
