Case Highlights Therapist Shortage in Wandsworth
Council fined for failing to deliver child's speech and language therapy
Watchdog was critical of Wandsworth Council's response to complaints
September 3, 2024
A father from Wandsworth won £1,100 after his son missed out on support from a council facing a therapist shortage. A watchdog investigation found Wandsworth Council at fault for failing to deliver the boy’s speech and language therapy for around two months.
The Local Government and Social Ombudsman report said the council was also slow to investigate whether other parts of the boy’s special educational needs support were being delivered in his final year of primary school. The authority had already offered his father, referred to only as Mr B, £1,100 for the injustice they experienced before the ombudsman was involved.
Mr B complained to the council about the level of support his son, C, was getting at the school in March last year, following concerns raised by a private psychologist who had visited him there. The report said no speech and language therapy was available to C from early February, when the previous provider withdrew, to mid-April, when the council found him a new therapist.
The ombudsman also found the council only sent an officer to the school to assess whether it was delivering all the support C needed in late June, despite being aware of Mr B’s concerns in March.
The report said, “We accept it is not practical for councils to keep a ‘watching brief’ on whether schools are providing all the special educational needs support for every pupil with an EHC [education, health and care] plan.
“But they should still be able to demonstrate effective oversight. We expect them to have systems in place to quickly investigate when complaints or concerns are raised that support is not being delivered.”
It added, “Even taking into account the lack of information from Mr B, the council could have done more, quicker, to establish whether C was getting all the support he needed. It was at fault for not doing so.”
The authority said, in one of its responses to Mr B’s complaint, according to the report, it was working to ‘find suitable solutions [to the shortage of therapy providers], both in terms of commissioning and recruitment’.
A council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that it is recruiting two extra full-time therapists for speech and language therapy and occupational therapy to improve services ‘as quickly as possible’.
The ombudsman ruled the council’s offer of £1,000 to recognise the speech and language therapy C lost was reasonable, even though he might have missed out on some other support. The authority offered Mr B an extra £100 for the time and trouble he was put to, bringing the total to £1,100.
A Wandsworth Council spokesperson told the LDRS, “We are fully committed to addressing the issues raised and improving the services we provide to our community. We recognise that a national shortage of qualified therapists has presented significant challenges in delivering timely and effective support.”
They added, “Our priority remains clear: to ensure every child receives the support they need to thrive. Despite the challenges facing the therapy sector, we are dedicated to making continuous improvements and working closely with our partners to address these issues.”
Charlotte Lillywhite - Local Democracy Reporter