Rochdale censured

Rochdale Council has been ordered to pay £500 to a woman
following delays in its assessment of the needs of her disabled
daughter.

The local government ombudsman said the council had an overly
simple system of prioritising care requirements, and this resulted
in delays of more than a year in providing the necessary
equipment.

Although the ombudsman accepted there was a national shortage of
paediatric occupational therapists, the ombudsman said Rochdale
should have been more thorough in its efforts to recruit them, if
only for temporary cover, in order to prevent delay.

Rochdale social services director Ian Davey said the complaint
was made in 1993, when the disabilities team was newly
established.