Lack of support for man with learning disability

An apology has been made to a man with a learning disability after they did not receive the care coordinator they were entitled to.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found fault with the Integrated Care Board (ICB), Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust (CPFT) and Peterborough City Council's adult social care for not allocating a coordinator to the man, referred to as Mr Y.

It also found local policy was written more restrictively than national guidance in such circumstances.

All three organisations wrote to Mr Y to apologise for the distress caused through "avoidable uncertainty" and acknowledged the failings.

When someone has a mental health disorder, local authorities and ICBs have a duty to provide or arrange free aftercare services for anyone previously detained under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

A report to be put before a council committee on 8 July states: "There are people with a learning disability and people who are autistic who access mental health services, and they would be entitled to the same offer of support as everyone else accessing those services, however, Mr Y was not provided with the same offer."

It adds that it is "essential" a suitable care coordinator is identified to help an individual to navigate complicated care systems and provide continuity.

The ombudsman found the local policy was restrictive, for example, it stated that a care coordinator needed to be a health care provider, while national guidance left it open for social workers to take on the role too.

The ombudsman also found there was a discrepancy in the agreement with the scope of delegated functions between the ICB and CPFT.

"The scope includes people suffering with mental illness as well as challenging behaviour which then creates a gap as there are no dedicated care coordinator roles for specialist learning disability health services," the report states.

Peterborough City Council's prevention, independence and resilience scrutiny committee is recommended to consider that the CPFT, the ICB and council agree an interim solution before local policy and commissioning issues are resolved, whereby Mr Y's allocated social worker acts as the care coordinator.

The committee will also consider a comprehensive review of the current policies and procedures takes place to align with national guidance.

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