Quadriplegic young man confined to two unsuitable rooms

Archived press release

Date Published: 04/07/08

Kirklees Council took over 18 months to agree a scheme and funding for adaptations to meet a family's needs, causing a quadriplegic young man to be confined to two unsuitable rooms after he was discharged from hospital.

A quadriplegic young man was confined to two unsuitable rooms in his home without suitable facilities as a result of Kirklees Council’s failures, finds Local Government Ombudsman, Anne Seex. In her report, issued today (4 July 2008), she says that, after the young man (called ‘Mr H’ in the report) was discharged from hospital, it took the Council over 18 months to agree a scheme and funding for the adaptations to meet the family’s needs.

Mr H is in his early twenties and became quadriplegic whilst being treated in hospital for leukaemia. He lives at home with his parents, older sister and foster brother who has special needs. He is unable to move and dependent on his parents for 24-hour care and all his physical needs. He has difficulties with swallowing and breathing, and the traumatic experience of sudden and unexpected paralysis during hospital treatment has left him emotionally vulnerable. He can sit for short periods in a wheelchair but is unable to socialise outside the home.

Mr H’s family applied to the Council to have adaptations to their home to meet his needs and those of the foster child. The family battled to persuade Council officers that these needed to: retain a separate dining room for the foster child’s special needs; provide space in Mr H’s room for a second bed as he was afraid of being alone during the night because of his breathing and swallowing difficulties; provide space in his room for his carers to move around his bed and manoeuvre his wheelchair; and provide space in his room for Mr H to meet his friends without his parents being present.

The Ombudsman said “The Council’s response and practice was appalling”, and found that the Council: 

• failed to provide written information and explanations about the adaptations process at an early stage;
• failed to provide a single point of contact;
• failed to respect the views of the family;
• failed to consider the needs of the foster child; and
• took over 18 months to agree a scheme and funding for adaptations to meet Mr H’s needs and those of the foster child.

As a result, Mr H was largely confined to two unsuitable rooms in his home without suitable facilities for washing or private space to talk to visiting friends, and was unable to move towards any independent living. His family was restricted in the use of their home and had no separate living area other than their dining room. They not only had to come to terms with Mr H becoming paralysed, but also had to battle against apparently impenetrable, insensitive and disrespectful decisions and processes, and had the worry of how to finance work necessary to give Mr H an appropriate quality of life.

The Ombudsman recommends that the Council should:

• pay Mr H £7,000 to reflect the unreasonable restriction on his day­-to-day life, including his social contact, caused by its delay;
• pay Mr H’s parents £70 per week for each week from 20 weeks after he left hospital until when the adaptations were completed, to reflect their struggle to provide care to Mr H without the necessary facilities and space;
• pay £1,000 to Mr H’s father in recognition of his time and trouble in pursuing the complaint;
• apologise to Mr H and his family through a personal visit from an officer at the level of Director or Head of Service; and
• review its current practices and procedures.

Report ref 07C05809