Summary: Ms X complained the Council delayed completing her occupational therapy assessment. She also complained of poor communication. We find the Council at fault for its delay in completing Ms X’s occupational therapy assessment and for communicating poorly with Ms X. The Council’s actions caused Ms X frustration and uncertainty, and she was put to time and trouble trying to resolve the matter. The Council has agreed to apologise to Ms X and make a symbolic payment of £250. It has also agreed to make a service improvement.

The complaint

1. Ms X says the Council delayed completing her occupational therapy (OT) assessment. She adds its communication with her was poor and she had to frequently chase it for updates.
2. Ms X says as a result she remained in unsuitable accommodation which puts her at risk as she cannot safely use her home. She says this caused her distress, uncertainty, and frustration. Ms X wants the Council to rehouse her and her family into suitable accommodation that meets her health needs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Care assessment

7. Sections 9 and 10 of the Care Act 2014 require councils to carry out an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support. They must provide an assessment to everyone regardless of their finances or whether the council thinks the person has eligible needs. The assessment must be of the adult’s needs and how they impact on their wellbeing and the results they want to achieve. It must also involve the individual and where suitable their carer or any other person they might want involved.
8. Councils must carry out assessments over a suitable and reasonable timescale considering the urgency of needs and any variation in those needs. Councils should tell people when their assessment will take place and keep them informed throughout the assessment.

What happened

9. Ms X lives in a two-bedroom property with her children. She has a visual impairment and is registered blind. Ms X says due to the cramped conditions of her current property, she has suffered injuries and falls and needs a property with more space and light. Ms X is currently on the housing register for rehousing to a more suitable property.
10. In September 2024, an advocate from a charity for people with visual impairments made a request to the Council for an OT assessment. An OT assessment clarifies a person’s assessed needs, considers their living conditions and determines whether the property meets their assessed needs. The primary need for Ms X’s assessment was to support her application for rehousing.
11. Ms X said she did not receive any response from the Council so queried the progress of the referral three times in November. The Council told her it had processed her referral at the beginning of October. It said she was on the waiting list for the assessment and advised of a three to four month wait.
12. Ms X complained to the Council about the delay in January 2025. The Council upheld her complaint. It explained the delay was due to high demand on the service and estimated it would be another four months before it could allocate an occupational therapist.
13. Ms X’s advocate chased the Council again in April and stressed the urgency of Ms X’s situation. Ms X complained to the Ombudsman in May.
14. In June, the Council made a referral to an OT agency to progress Ms X’s assessment.
15. The Council completed Ms X’s OT assessment two weeks later. The assessment found Ms X’s property did not adequately meet her assessed needs. The occupational therapist’s report recommended the Council rehouse Ms X and her family urgently to a more spacious property to avoid a serious accident. The occupational therapist told Ms X it would make an urgent referral to the Council’s Housing Services.
16. In September, Ms X requested an update from the Council and discovered the OT department had not yet sent the OT report to the housing team. The Council then sent the OT report on to its housing team that day. It advised Ms X to upload the OT report onto its system and update her medical evidence while she waited for the housing team’s decision on her medical priority. In October, the Council wrote to Ms X and told her its medical assessor had decided she was not a priority, and she would remain in band C on its housing allocations list.

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Analysis

17. Ms X’s advocate made the referral for an OT assessment in September 2024. The Council did not carry out the OT assessment until nine months later in June 2025.
18. Although there is no statutory timescale for completing an OT assessment, the statutory guidance says it should be completed in an appropriate and reasonable timescale. We would expect this to be within four to six weeks. Nine months goes far beyond what we would consider a reasonable wait time. This is fault, which caused Ms X uncertainty and frustration, as she did not know when her assessment would be carried out and had to keep contacting the Council for updates. I have recommended a suitable remedy to address this injustice below.
19. Ms X also complained of poor communication by the Council. The Council told the Ombudsman all communication with Ms X outside of its complaint response was verbal. There are no records of these conversations. Ms X told the Ombudsman no conversations took place. I cannot make a full assessment of what happened without evidence. However, I can see the Council did not keep Ms X updated of the progress of her assessment. It only updated her when she contacted it in November 2024, and again in February 2025 in its complaint response. As stated above, councils should tell people when their assessment will take place and keep them informed throughout the process. It is clear the Council did not do this without prompting from Ms X and her advocate. This is fault, which further compounded the frustration and uncertainty she suffered. I have recommended a service improvement below.
20. The Council explained its delay in carrying out Ms X’s OT assessment was due to high service demand and it said it sometimes receives up to 30 referrals for OT assessments per day. It also said the delay was caused by nationwide shortages of occupational therapists.
21. The Council has explained it is taking measures to reduce delays for OT assessments, including the introduction of clinic-based assessments to supplement traditional home-based assessments. It also said it is outsourcing OT assessments to agencies to manage its high referral numbers. I am satisfied the Council is taking suitable measures to reduce the delays on a wider scale and have not therefore recommended any service improvements in this regard.
22. I understand the Council has recently reviewed Ms X’s OT report and has not changed its assessment of her priority banding on its housing allocations list. I understand this is frustrating for Ms X, and she feels this does not align with the recommendation for urgent rehousing in the OT report. However, any complaint about the Council’s handling of her housing application or the way it has reviewed her medical evidence is premature and Ms X will need to raise this issue with the Council as a new complaint. If she is unhappy with the Council’s response, she may approach the Ombudsman again.

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Action

23. Within one month of the final decision the Council has agreed to:
1. Apologise to Ms X for the frustration and uncertainty caused by the identified fault.
2. Pay Ms X £250 in recognition of the frustration and uncertainty caused by the identified fault.
3. Establish a clear communication process to keep those who have been referred for an OT assessment informed about their assessment timeline.
24. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

25. I find fault causing injustice for which I recommend a remedy. The Council has agreed to my recommendations, so I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman