Greenwich Council has apologised after it failed to help a disabled man who couldn’t reach a bath in his own home without help.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman ruled the council had not worked quickly enough to help the man, who said his flat was unsuitable for his wheelchair and could not be adapted, and asked to be given full-time care because of his health issues.

The local authority also paid the man, known only as Mr X, £250 after causing him “distress” during the process.

Mr X suffers from a range of health issues, including arthritic psoriasis, and submitted a medical assessment form to the council in May 2020.

He requested night and day carers and claimed his privately-rented accommodation was in poor condition and not wheelchair accessible.

Because of his disabilities, he could not access his bath or shower without assistance and could not access his kitchen due to the stairs.

But in June 2020, the Council decided Mr X did not qualify for rehousing on medical grounds after referring his application to its Medical Adviser.

Later that year, an Occupational Therapist (OT) who visited the house found it was not wheelchair accessible and noted the London Fire Brigade had recently installed fire alarms and commented the property was not suitable for a wheelchair user.

In June 2021, a social-care assessment carried out by the council found Mr X required urgent re-housing.

Mr X moved into a new, one-bedroom ground floor property in October 2021 after adaptations were made to the property.

The Ombudsman found fault in the time-frame in which Mr X’s case was referred to the OT, in the way the council reached its decision not to award him medical priority, and for a delay of four months in handing Mr X’s evidence to its medical adviser so it could be reviewed.

Greenwich Council has now apologised and paid Mr X £250 to recognise the distress, time and trouble for delays in carrying out his review and referral to the OT.

A spokesperson for the council said: “The Council would like to apologise to Mr X for the way it dealt with his application and we have agreed to pay him £250 in recognition of any distress caused. 

“We accept we were at fault for the way we dealt with his housing application. We have swiftly actioned all the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s recommendations including changing our medical assessment section of our allocations policy, which is common practice following an ombudsman case, to make sure this does not happen again and no one else goes through what Mr X went through.”

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