News

The case of a disabled man with learning difficulties who died at 20 after his needs were allegedly neglected has been reported to the Healthcare Commission.

Tom Wakefield, who had cerebral palsy and progressive scoliosis, died in an adult psychiatric unit where, his family claim, his health needs were "not properly looked after".

His parents made an official complaint to Gloucestershire Council, which was responsible for their son's care, for its failure to plan his move from school into adult care when he was 18.


They say their son remained in a residential school "five months longer than he should have" before he was placed in an adult psychiatric unit, after which his health declined until his death last year.

The Healthcare Commission said it was looking into the case.

The Learning Disability Taskforce highlights the case in its third annual report, out this week, as an example of the gaps in service provision for people with high support needs.

In the report, Jo Williams, chief executive of Mencap and taskforce member, describes the case as "extremely sad". She says: "The council had not planned for [Wakefield] to move to a good care placement when he left school. We hope that all councils will make sure something like this does not happen again."


Margaret Sheather, executive director for social services at Gloucestershire Council, accepted that transition planning for Wakefield could have been better.

But she added: "We responded immediately, including employing a consultant to help us develop and implement a commissioning strategy, which will address the need for appropriate care for these young people, and are doing specific work on the way we handle transitions."

The report calls for greater accountability for learning difficulties services and criticises "old-fashioned" performance indicators for failing to show whether councils met required standards.

The report also raises concerns over councils' reporting on how much they spent on services.