Lambeth Council failings led to child suffering irreversible harm

A disabled child will never be able to stand up again because of council delays in finding wheelchair-accessible accommodation.

The mother has now won £21,000 in compensation from Lambeth Council, the Local Government Ombudsman said.

The council accepted that the family were "badly let down" by its failings.

The child suffered from a condition that caused them to be in pain and was in desperate need of an operation to improve their condition.

But the family's council house could not fit a wheelchair and there was no space for hoists and specialist equipment, essential for recovery from their operation.

The child's occupational therapist said the family needed to move urgently due to the house's unsuitability, as first flagged in 2019, the ombudsman said. This need was ignored at least fives times by the council.

The lack of space meant the child was unable to be positioned upright to eat, leaving them at risk of choking. Furthermore, being carried in the home over a long period was causing the child injury and leaving them in pain, only alleviated by the surgery.

It was three and a half years before they were moved and by the time the child was rehoused, they needed an entirely different operation, with irreversible damage caused.

In May 2022, the therapist wrote to Lambeth Council informing it that "the long-term impact of the child being unsuitably housed means they will have no bones in their hips to keep their legs in place".

In a damning assessment of the council's handling of the case, Local Government Ombudsman chief executive Nigel Ellis said there was "no evidence" the council had tried to find the mother a suitable house in the time period.

He said the mother and child were put at "significant and avoidable risk of harm over a prolonged period" due to the council's failures. 

Mr Ellis said: "In other words, [the mother] secured a property no more quickly than she would have had she had no contact with the council at all and continued to bid. This is a significant injustice."

A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: "We accept the findings of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and apologise to the family, who were badly let down in this case. The council will undertake the ombudsman's recommended actions."

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