Watchdog orders socialwork toapologise toclient

South Ayrshire Council’s social work department failed to document the reason why it wanted a police report on a service user.

The controversy stems from a case involving an adult man and his mother and centres on the reason why the police report was requested- and the parameters of that request.

The adult, known only as Mr A, is the son of the complainant, known only as Ms C.

The mum brought the case to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO).

In the report the SPSO state: “Ms C complained on behalf of her adult son regarding two specific matters.

“The social work records did not contain any information on why the (police) request was made.

“We considered this to be unreasonable.

“The police request was in a standard form but it did not include parameters on the request limited to the alleged incident.

“It would have been reasonable to expect that this information should have been documented.

“We upheld this aspect of Ms C’s complaint.”

The second matter related to communication and access to social work services.

The SPSO said: “Ms C complained that, despite being advised Mr A had a new social worker, there was a failure to advise Mr A of their name.

“Mr A was not transferred to adult services and therefore he would not have a named social worker.

“Mr A was not made aware of this. We found there was an unreasonable failure to communicate this.”

Ms C also alleged there was a failure to refer her son to adult services and, as a result, have an assessment carried out on him.

But the SPSO said: “The decision not to refer Mr A to adult services under the children with disabilities and adult services transition arrangements was reasonable; however, the failure to document and explain this was unreasonable.”

SPSO has now told the social work department to apologise to Mr A for “failing to document” why the police report was requested in their records and for failing to ensure the actual request was confined to parameters “relevant to the alleged incident.”

Social Work must also apologise for failing to advise Mr A how he could “access social services” and for providing him with “incorrect information” that he’d been allocated a new social worker – when it wasn’t the case.

A spokesperson for the South Ayrshire HSCP said: “We fully accept the findings of the ombudsman.

“We have apologised to the family and continue to work with the individual, to ensure they receive the best care possible.

And the spokesman added: “We have carried out an internal review, and are taking steps to improve our systems and procedures.”