Summary: Mr B complained the Council’s sensory team did not provide him with refresher mobility training and delayed providing equipment. Mr B said he was worried he would be less independent if the Council did not provide mobility training. We found fault with the Council causing injustice. The Council delayed providing Mr B with equipment and referring him for a Care Act assessment. The Council will undertake a Care Act assessment and make a payment to Mr B to remedy the injustice its faults caused.

The complaint

1. Mr B complained the Council’s sensory team did not provide him with refresher mobility training and delayed providing equipment. He said the mobility training the Council gave him was insufficient and would be out-of-date when he can use the route again, because of Covid-19 restrictions and self-isolation. Mr B also complained he could not access relevant information on the Council’s website.
2. Mr B said he had to chase the Council to receive the equipment he needed. He said he was worried he would be less independent if the Council did not provide mobility training. Not being able to access relevant information on the Council’s website caused him frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered:
• Mr B’s complaint and the information he provided;
• documents supplied by the Council;
• relevant legislation and guidelines; and
• the Council’s policies and procedures.
6. I considered the Council’s and Mr B’s comments on a draft decision before I made my final decision.

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What I found

Legislation and policy

7. The core purpose of adult care and support is to help people to achieve the outcomes that matter to them in their life. Underpinning all council’s individual care and support functions is the need to ensure that doing so focuses on the needs and goals of the person concerned. (Department of Health and Social Care, Care and support statutory guidance)
8. The Care Act 2014 sets out councils’ responsibilities to assess the needs of adults in their area. An assessment identifies an individual’s needs, how they impact on their well-being and the outcomes the person wants to achieve in day-to-day life.
9. Councils must undertake an assessment for any adult who appears to need care and support, regardless of whether the council thinks the individual has eligible needs or their financial situation. Councils must consider all the adult’s care and support needs, regardless of any support provided by a carer.
10. It is critical to the vision in the Care Act that the care and support system works to actively promote wellbeing and independence and does not wait to respond when people reach a crisis point. It is vital the care and support system intervenes early to support individuals, helps people retain or regain their skills and confidence, and prevents need or delays deterioration wherever possible. (Department of Health and Social Care, Care and support statutory guidance)
11. It is important that people receive information in a timely manner about the services or interventions that can help or contribute to preventing an escalation in needs for care and support. Supporting people’s access to the right information at the right time is a key element of a council’s responsibilities for prevention. (Department of Health and Social Care, Care and support statutory guidance)
12. The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination arising from disability. Disability discrimination is when a person is treated less well or put at a disadvantage for a reason that relates to a disability in one of the situations set out in the Equality Act, one of those being when a person has contact with public bodies like a local council.
13. The Equality Act 2010 says councils should make changes or adjustments to enable people to receive the same services as others, to ensure they are not disadvantaged.
14. The duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people is ‘anticipatory’. This means councils cannot wait until a disabled person wants to use its services but must think in advance about what disabled people with a range of impairments might reasonably need.
15. This complaint involves events that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Schedule 12 of the Coronavirus Act sets out powers and duties for councils in England arising from the impact of the outbreak related to their care and support functions. The Act 2020 became law on 25 March 2020. It allows for some council duties under the Care Act 2014 to be transformed from a ‘duty’ to a ‘power’ by using ‘Easements’. Islington Council did not put in place any easements under the Care Act because of Covid-19.

Islington sensory team

16. The sensory team provides specialist assessments and reviews care plans relating to sensory impairments which may identify rehabilitation, equipment and/or support needs. It can provide equipment, rehabilitation training, advice, and support.
17. Mobility training helps people who are visually impaired to maintain travel independence. It teaches them new orientation and mobility skills to compensate for reduced vision.

Islington adult social care complaint procedure

18. The Council has a two-stage complaint procedure.
19. Stage one: The Council aims to respond to all complaints within 20 working days but may need longer depending on the details of the complaint.
20. Stage two: If a complainant does not accept the outcome of the complaint investigation, they can request a review within 28-days of receiving the Council’s response. Their complaint will be passed to a different officer to investigate. This officer will conduct a separate review and advise whether they upheld the complaint.

What happened

21. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
22. Mr B is registered blind and is severely sight impaired. In 2016, the Council assessed his care and support needs. It did not give him a copy of the assessment. The Council assessed that he needed refresher mobility training because of a change in architecture on his route. The Council delivered this as reablement. The Council also provided Mr B with a liquid level indicator and talking cube clock.

Equipment

23. Mr B says he asked the Council for a talking clock and liquid level indicator in March 2020. The Council ordered the equipment in April 2020. It asked the equipment provider to send these items by post. Mr B did not receive these items.
24. In June 2020, Mr B complained to the Council the equipment had not arrived. The Council reordered the equipment, and the equipment provider delivered it ten days later.
25. The Council said the equipment provider stopped sending items by post because of COVID-19 and this was why the items were not delivered in April 2020. The Council said the provider did not say it had stopped postal deliveries.

Mobility Training

26. In March 2020, Mr B asked the Council for refresher mobility training. The Council told him he did not meet the criteria. It told him it had already given him training on his route from his home to a tube station and to his gym. It suggested he contact voluntary organisations to see if they could provide mobility training. The Council told Mr B in future he would need to contact its access and advice team to ask for support.
27. Mr B made a formal complaint to the Council in June 2020. The Council responded in July. It apologised for not being able to give him an estimated time of delivery for his equipment. It told him he did not meet its revised criteria for mobility refresher training. It signposted him to other organisations it thought may be able to provide mobility training. The Council told him to contact the access and advice team in future.
28. Mr B was dissatisfied with the Council’s response. In August 2020 he asked for a stage 1 complaint response. He complained that visually impaired residents had previously had an allocated rehab worker from the sensory team who they could contact direct for equipment or support.
29. The Council replied in October 2020. It said the sensory service was a short-term rehabilitation and equipment service. It explained the team provided basic equipment and training and did not offer long-term support. It said the sensory team had previously exercised discretion to help those who contacted them direct, but this was not possible during the COVID-19 pandemic.
30. It said the priority of the service was to assess the needs of individuals who were newly certified as partially sighted or blind and had not had any services from the sensory team before. It said the team provided six-weeks training on single mobility routes and did not provide reactive mobility training.
31. It reminded Mr B he had received mobility training several times. It said the team had ‘continually and exceptionally’ provided him with mobility training, and now realised it had provided him with services ‘in excess’ of his rights and its duties. The Council told him the sensory team did not provide ongoing mobility training.
32. The Council said it did not have published criteria for mobility training. It advised an individual’s need for this would be considered within a Care Act assessment. It said it did not tell him he was ineligible for mobility training, but that this could not be provided by the sensory team. It said mobility training could be provided by a support worker paid for by direct payments. It asked Mr B if he wanted it to review his Care Act assessment.
33. The Council referred Mr B for a Care Act assessment in April 2021. As of June 2021, this has not been completed.

Accessible information

34. The Council believes it provided Mr B with an electronic copy of its printed sensory directory. However, it recognises there are problems with the document.
35. In response to enquiries, the Council said the sensory team provided Mr B with information verbally about relevant service changes. It said, going forward it will publish information about its services in a more accessible way.

Analysis

Equipment

36. There was no feedback mechanism between the Council and the equipment provider to alert the Council when orders were not fulfilled, this was fault.
37. Because of the fault, there was a delay in Mr B receiving a talking clock & liquid level indicator and he was put to time and trouble having to request the items more than once.

Mobility training

38. When Mr B approached the Council for mobility training in March 2020, the Council should have referred him for a Care Act assessment. Instead, it gave Mr B mixed messages about whether and how he could access mobility training. It also delayed giving him the right information about the remit of the sensory team and the option to request a Care Act assessment. This was fault.
39. Because of this fault, Mr B was put to time and trouble. He had to repeatedly contact and challenge the Council to try to get it to respond to his need for support. The delays also create uncertainty about what the result of a Care Act assessment would have been if the Council had started it in March 2020, and whether Mr B lost out on social care provision.

Accessible information

40. Although the Council had made some adjustments to ensure information was accessible to those with visual impairments, but it recognises more needs to be done.
41. It could not tell me what adjustments it made to ensure its policies and procedures, and website were accessible to those with visual impairments.
42. I do not consider the Council gave due regard to its duties under the Equality Act 2010. This caused Mr B frustration because he could not access information about the services provided by the Council to those with visual impairments through its website.

Agreed action

43. Within one month of the final decision, the Council will:
• Apologise to Mr B for the faults found in this investigation.
• Pay Mr B £350 for the time and trouble he was put to, and the uncertainty caused by the Council’s faults.
• Review its arrangement with the equipment provider to ensure any problems with the delivery are fed back to the sensory team and resolved.
• Issue the sensory team with guidance about their responsibility to signpost or refer adults with an appearance of need for care and support for a Care Act assessment.
44. Within two months the Council will review how it shares information with those with visual impairments to ensure it is meeting its duties under the Equality Act 2010.
45. The Council will complete Mr B’s Care Act assessment without delay.
46. The Council should provide the Ombudsman with evidence it has completed these actions.

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Final decision

47. I have completed my investigation and uphold Mr B’s complaint. Mr B was caused an injustice by the actions of the Council. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman