A Scottish Government watchdog has ruled that a council “failed unreasonably” to provide suitable respite care for a city resident.
The resident, who is referred to in the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman report as Miss A, has “complex medical needs” and was assessed as needing 42 nights of respite care every year.
Aberdeen City Council attempted to find an appropriate care setting, including a children’s hospice and a local charity with residential care facilities.
But local authority staff said that the resources needed to find a suitable carer with the specialist knowledge and training required, were in short supply.
After the SPSO investigated the matter, their report concluded the council had: “failed unreasonably” to provide Miss A with the respite care she needed and “did not demonstrate that they made exhaustive efforts which was what required in this case.”
The report added: “The council acknowledged that despite their efforts, they had been unable to meet Miss A’s requirements; they said that the resources needed in terms of the availability of a suitable carer, and the specialist knowledge and training required, were in short supply.
“The council had looked at a number of options which, for reasons outwith their control, had not proved possible.
“However, there should have been greater consideration of Miss A’s circumstances and those of her family, a greater recording of the action taken by the council and a more creative and imaginative approach in order to show that they had done everything in their power to satisfy Miss A’s unmet respite care needs.”
The SPSO recommended the council should apologise to the resident’s mother.
An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said: “We note the findings of the report.”