A vulnerable woman, denied the appropriate care after having both her legs amputated, has received more than £27,000 following an investigation by two ombudsmen services.
The joint investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found the woman was left without the right care package for more than a year because of a dispute between Sheffield City Council and Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust.
Before her legs were amputated, the woman received an annual personal budget of approximately £7,000, to help her with her mental health problem of moderate to severe depression, which was funded by the NHS. When she had both her legs amputated, following a blood disorder and problems with her vascular system, her personal budget had to be re-assessed.
But the council and the mental health trust couldn’t decide how much support she should receive, leaving her without sufficient funds for over 14 months despite joint letters from her clinical psychologist, her physiotherapist and prosthetist saying the delay was having a ‘significant adverse impact’ on the patient’s ‘physical and psychological wellbeing’.
Local government ombudsman Dr Jane Martin said: ‘This is an example of two organisations, with an important role in supporting vulnerable people, being unable to communicate properly and take a co-ordinated approach to provide suitable assistance for this woman.
‘I am pleased that the council and the trust have agreed to our recommendations and will now produce an action plan to ensure better working relationships and a more joined up strategy for dealing with cases such as this. I hope this will ensure that similar situations will not recur.’
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Julie Mellor added: ‘Both the council and the trust should have acted sooner to prevent the unnecessary distress experienced by this woman.
The woman complained to the NHS trust and the council about them taking so long to decide how much support she should get. But even though the NHS upheld her complaint, she was forced to complain to the ombudsmen as four months after the complaint was upheld by the trust, her new budget had still not been decided.
The ombudsmen recommended the council and the trust apologise to the complainant, reimburse her £14,000, urgently agree monthly budgets, pay her £12,000 to cover the impact of car failings and pay her a further £1,000 for stress incurred.
In a joint statement, Moira Wilson, interim director of adult services at Sheffield City Council, and Kevan Taylor, chief executive at Sheffield Health & Social Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘We accept the ombudsman’s findings and are very sorry that Ms D had the experience she had. We sincerely apologise for this and for the stress and anxiety this obviously caused her.
‘This is a very serious matter and we are working closely together to ensure that lessons have been learned and to make sure that in future people with mental and physical health needs receive a much better joined up service.’
Both the trust and council have accepted the ombudsmen’s recommendations in full.
