SPSO Decision Notice on assessments

Assessments
1

Hello everyone,

Some of you will be aware of my ongoing challenges with Midlothian Council in regards to my assessment. This resulted in escalating my complaint to the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman’s decision has now been published online and I hope it might be useful in other people’s cases. In short, the Ombudsman has re-confirmed that:

  • Care assessments should be clear, comprehensive, in line with relevant legislation and guidance, and completed in a timely manner.
  • If risk ratings are changed or there is disagreement as to whether risks meet the critical/substantial eligibility criteria, the council’s position should be fully explained.
  • An individual’s financial position should not influence their needs assessment (there was evidence on file to suggest that my financial means may have been a factor in assessing my needs and risks)

If this report is helpful in your case, please do feel to reference it. And if you need any further details, send me a message.

2

Has this fixed the problems?

3

Surprisingly, the service have accepted the findings. The assessment isn’t complete yet; so time will tell what meaningful difference it makes.

4

Sounds promising. I’m interested in any updates if you’re willing to share in future.

1 Like
5

Hello again, many months after my last update. This week we finally reached a conclusion to my ongoing saga - with some pushing back and constructive challenge, we’ve settled on a package that is just shy of five times the size that it was.

Given my needs are exactly the same as they were in the first assessment, it’s a poor reflection of the Council’s original assessment…

In summary, whilst the SPSO cannot enforce the regulations like a court can, it certainly seems to be an option worth considering.

1 Like
6

That’s an amazing result. Sounds like you did a good job. Have you learned anything from it in terms of what kind of approach gets results? You said constructive challenge was a part of it.