A complaint that was submitted by Reading Voice, the advocacy service that Healthwatch Reading runs for local people, on behalf of a woman with visual impairments against Reading Borough Council, has been partly upheld by the Local Government Ombudsman.
The woman, who also had mental health needs, was dissatisfied with the council’s response regarding her care, which in our opinion and after read the Ombudsman summary, was appalling to say the least.
In its decision published on 18 March 2020, the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) partly upheld the complaint. The decision states: ‘The Council identified the need for help with medication but did not provide that help seven days a week. That was fault by the Council. It resulted in the incident on 25 August 2018. Although taking her medication too early did not cause physical harm to Ms X, it caused her much distress. That is an injustice which warrants an apology and financial redress.’
The council has agreed to the LGO’s recommendations to apologise to the woman, waive £200 of her outstanding care charges and to make sure staff ‘update care and support plans whenever they make changes to the care being delivered’.
Reading Boroughe Council has agreed to take the action recommended by the LGO.
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