Council admits man was ‘lost’ in system

Derbyshire Council has agreed to pay £350
to the mother of a man with mild learning difficulties, who was
“lost” in the social services system.

An investigation by local government ombudsman
Patricia Thomas found that at a difficult time in the life of David
Walsh (not his real name), he was “simply lost in the system”
because of the informal way his social worker managed his case.

No provision was made for Walsh when his
social worker left the council, and there were communication
failures and delay in assessing his needs. The council suggested
that it was inappropriate that Walsh had been a client of its
learning difficulty team, but Thomas felt this did not excuse the
council’s failures.

The council accepted fault and has agreed to
pay £350 to Walsh’s mother for his benefit.

“However, I trust that the council will also
take steps to improve its procedures and its speed of response to
communications,” Thomas concluded.