Independent review clears council officials of any wrongdoing over 'four week care delay' policy

11:10am Thursday 7th March 2013 in News Exclusive By Leigh Marles, Editor

FLASHBACK: James Robinson places council letter of apology for care delay on his mother's grave FLASHBACK: James Robinson places council letter of apology for care delay on his mother's grave

AN INQUIRY into a social care policy decried last year as "possibly illegal and certainly immoral"  by the then leader of Wirral Council has ruled it was in fact perfectly acceptable.

In March 2012, Cllr Jeff Green said he had discovered evidence social services had been operating a deliberate policy of not acting as quickly as possible to introduce home care packages for vulnerable people.

The move was claimed to have been introduced to save money.

Revelations of the so-called “four week delay” system caused a public outcry.

Scores upon scores of angry and shocked readers contacted the Globe or left online comments when we broke the story.

Some had heart-rending accounts of how they and their families had been personally affected by holding up home care as a way of saving cash.

But now the inquiry by independent reviewer Rob Vickers has vindicated council officials and found the policy actually was “an appropriate and proportionate management initiative endorsed at branch and senior leadership team levels.”

In response to the clamour for action last March, a special telephone hot-line was set up in the town hall staffed by social care experts for relatives of elderly hospital patients who believed they had suffered as a result of the delays.

A letter of apology was sent by the council to carer James Robinson from Birkenhaed who was forced to watch his mother Esther slowly deteriorate after vital home help services were cut.

Mr Robinson’s mother passed away in September of 2009 but he was so moved by the letter of apology that he placed it at her graveside. 

Social services whistle-blowers said the delay to care packages had been kept a closely guarded secret.

Claims that it even existed had been denied on several occasions by council officials - but then Cllr Green revealed: "Minutes of a meeting have been unearthed that prove a decision was taken not to implement care packages immediately but to delay them for four weeks.

"I cannot begin to explain how angry I am at the length of time it has taken for this situation to come to light.

“After a series of denials from the Department of Adult Social Services, I am giving my personal guarantee that everyone who believes that they have been let down by the council will be given the opportunity to have their cases properly considered and dealt with."

He said this was yet more evidence of a "department in disarray" and that he was appointing an independent "ombudsman" to investigate.

But far from any idea the strategy might constitute an embarrassment to the council's care services, the investigation Cllr Green ordered has found the policy was “an appropriate and proportionate management initiative endorsed at branch and senior leadership team levels.”

The report, published on Wirral Council’s website, goes on: “Adult Social Services managers were endeavouring to respond in a responsible manner to demographic pressures and budgetary constraints that while in-year could equally be set against a backdrop of a recurring structural deficit.

“Advice afforded by Wirral officers would also indicate people were waiting for domiciliary care prior to the implementation of the four-week delay, which had lacked the rigour associated with the four-week delay allied to prioritisation, delegations and authorisations.

“In effect, the four-week delay introduced a managed process of managing demand for domiciliary care from independent sector providers.”

Mr Vickers ruled there was no secrecy about the strategy: "The four week delay was openly acknowledged and endorsed by the senior leadership team."

The consultant believes social services whistle-blowers may have misunderstood the reality of the situation: "The review has established a number of variances in relation to interpretation and understanding of how the four week delay was implemented and applied. 

"This arises because...the four week delay was applied by placing on-hold less urgent cases involving requests for domiciliary support from independent providers for four weeks before sourcing a support provider."

The reports says this is supported by the then interim director of Adult Social Services who in a letter dated August 31 2011 to one of the whistle-blowers stated: “I am satisfied from an operational point of view that there was no blanket delay and there is not now.

"There is, however, a process of prioritisation of cases and a target for completion that is well within the statutory guidance."

 

Comments(35)

Cheesy Peas says...
11:20am Thu 7 Mar 13

Breath-taking.

First there definitely was no four week delay. Oh no sirree.

Then, er, the memo is unearthed which shames the lot of them and, er, actually, yes, there was a four week delay endorsed by the same senior managers who'd denied its existence.

And actually, it was a great idea!

Trebles all round for the escapology department at WBC, or DASS as it's also known.

Who DO you think you're kidding?

And where does "independent" Rob Vickers now work?

I think we should be told.

Report this post »

WirralAl says...
11:48am Thu 7 Mar 13

4 Week delay or 4 Year Like this council gives a rats.

Who is Rob Vickers?

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djrimmer says...
12:07pm Thu 7 Mar 13

Havn`t a clue who "independent Rob Vickers" is but pound to a pinch he is a ex council exec from somewhere.
Yet again the Wirral public are fobbed off by so called "independent reviews"

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PaulCa says...
12:43pm Thu 7 Mar 13

This is Rob Vickers...

http://tinyurl.com/d
5onugo

Surprise, surprise, he formerly worked at St Helens Council as Assistant Director of Commissioning in Social Services.

At this link...

http://tinyurl.com/d
46gdlu


...you'll discover an internal Wirral email. This confirms that Vickers (with no company name, and now a sole trader) never made a declaration of "no prior affiliation" with Wirral Council. If he had provided it, this would have satisfied the wider public requirement that the report was indeed "independent".

As a result, althouth it has the word 'independent' stamped all over it, it's anything but.

This makes it not just insulting.... but deceitful and invalid.

Here, is more about how the local public seem to have been shafted, and some local (previously tub-thumping) politicians' ongoing role in that...

http://tinyurl.com/c
4q62xl

All in all, by largely foul means, power protects power, and this is what happens when history is rewritten (see Councillor Phil Davies letter this week) and accountability is repeatedly shunned.

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PaulCa says...
12:49pm Thu 7 Mar 13

And before I forget, here's an FoI request, asking whether Rob Vickers has been rewarded for "services rendered" with a plumb job at the council:

http://tinyurl.com/c
8odf4r

... it seems the answer is YES !! His appointment follows production of the report and Mr Vickers is now Interim Head of Branch Commissioning, Performance and Engagement.

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bigfoot says...
12:52pm Thu 7 Mar 13

Yet again
WHITEWASH!!
Remember this when you next bother to vote!!!
It could be you or your relatives next time.

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reliant22 says...
1:32pm Thu 7 Mar 13

PaulCa
So that answers the questions I was about to ask, but guess what, I sort of knew the answer.
Well I hope The Rt Hon Frank Field is reading this blog and feeling suitably guilty about what has been allowed to continue within this Labour- ruled council.
I sincerely hope they all get their come-uppance one way or another. There has to be justice somewhere in this world at some point for the individuals who were made to suffer. I suppose there`s some truth in the saying `The Devil looking after his own`.

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Hugo1008 says...
1:41pm Thu 7 Mar 13

Where did this independent examiner actually get his information, just who did he speak to and when.

Anybody can produce a report, its the evidence presented that tells the true story.

Come forward any Council Employee who gave any evidence, and declare if this was before or after certain high ranking employees left the employ of this totally disgraced and despised local government organisation, adjudged to be the worst managed organisation in the entire British Isles.

The smell of deep dirty disgustiing corruption emanates from the council offices, years after people complained I wonder why.

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sandals_wearer says...
2:07pm Thu 7 Mar 13

PaulCa

Your tinyurl to your FOI request isn't working for me.

Report this post »

PaulCa says...
2:38pm Thu 7 Mar 13

sandals_wearer wrote:
PaulCa

Your tinyurl to your FOI request isn't working for me.
Apologies SW and all. This should work. Remember to remove any spaces that appear in the link itself...

See page 3.

http://tinyurl.com/d
7xxop2

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Growl Tiger says...
2:57pm Thu 7 Mar 13

As one spurious “investigation” fades into the sunset another one takes its place.

We still haven’t heard what has happened to the suspended deputy director of finance who has been hoeing his garden on full pay since 28 June 2012.

Or what job the TSD returned to, if in fact he did return. From a FOI request, however, we do know the cost of the legal fees on the latter which amounted to circa £35,000.

These are partly the reasons we council tax payers are facing a 2% increase.

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ArdalMcFardle says...
3:25pm Thu 7 Mar 13

Pathetic. Lip Service.Reputation management. Spin.

Report this post »

water1lily says...
3:32pm Thu 7 Mar 13

Where on earth do they get these people from thenationalwhitewash company.co.uk

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johnhardaker says...
5:53pm Thu 7 Mar 13

The infamous wirral phrase yet again rears it ugly head NO CASE TO ANSWER yet in DASS minutes chaired by the infamous Rick{I cannot tell a lie} O'brien clearly stated the 4 week delay based on a cash only & not on any humanitarian needs. Then they employ an "Independent" outsider who concocts a report to confirm the council & DASS did nothing wrong & takes a fat fee & then get a plum job at the council.
These councilors are corrupt to the extreme what with the redacted AKA report,the David Green Hepse scandal & now this & the sad part about this whole story is that these clowns voted to have local elections every 4 years instead of every two so the labour money grabbing merry go round will go on for more years & no doubt more scandals will be uncovered & brushed under the carpet filed under "NO CASE TO ANSWER" learn to live with that more of the same God help us.

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MX says...
6:12pm Thu 7 Mar 13

I have to say recent reports seem to lack the investigative rigour of the AKA report (which considering the range of issues involved was quite a feat).

For example it doesn't appear the actual whistleblowers in this case were interviewed as part of the process.
Is that what they mean by "lessons have learned"?.
Make sure the investiagtor starts off with the conclusion "no case to answer" and work backwards from there?.

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PaulCa says...
8:00pm Thu 7 Mar 13

Dear Web Editor, as you've deleted an innocuous post of mine, can I in turn suggest you change your headline to start with "Independent".....? - in inverted commas -

...because Independent - not in inverted commas - it sure as hell isn't !

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Jimrob says...
8:05pm Thu 7 Mar 13

Well well............

Regular readers and posters will be aware of me and what happened. For those who are not, read my username and then the name under the photo.

I would like to say that I can't believe the so called "Independent Report" as published, but alas, this is Wirral.

I know that what happened was illegal under the law and so do the perpetrators of this obscene policy.

The term "No case to answer" is a legal term, introduced for use in the law courts.

Thanks to other posters on this thread, I now know who the author of this report is and what his "Motive" (another legal term) was.

I wonder just exactly what Mr Vickers, and the people who employed him, not only to write this utter rubbish of a so called "Independent Report" but also let the donkey have the carrot of a lucrative, well paid job at the expense of the very people who WERE failed, namely, the Council Tax payers of Wirral. (Some now unfortunately deceased) would do If they EVER got to see the inside of a REAL court and were subject to some much needed JUSTICE.

Printed below is the FULL transcript (Note WBC, NOT REDACTED IN ANY WAY) of the letter of apology that was sent firstly to myself and then placed under the soil of my Late mother's grave.

The letter is dated:26th March 2012

and is from the then Leader of the Council, Cllr Jeff Green.

Dear Mr Robinson

Firstly can I thank you and your uncle for taking the time to meet with me on Wednesday to discuss the care, or rather the lack of care, your mother Esther, received from February 2009 up until her passing on 1st September 2009.

Secondly, as Leader of the Council, can I take this opportunity to apologise not only for the upset and distress that your mother must have gone through as the care package she received was stripped away but for the obvious pain and suffering this whole situation has caused you and your family.

I could not help but be moved by your dignity as you recounted to me what clearly has been a painful episode which has only been compounded by the fact the Council has dealt with your correspondence so ineffectively.

As discussed I will arrange for us to meet with a senior manager from the Department of Adult Social Services so you can recount to them the pain and distress your mother experienced in the final months of her life.

My office will be in touch to arrange a mutually convenient time for that meeting

Thank you for meeting with me and please once again do accept my most sincere apologies for the treatment your mother received.

Yours sincerely

Councillor Jeff Green
Leader of the Council.

How's that for "No case to answer" Mr Vickers.

I will ask you the same question In court.

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Jimrob says...
8:18pm Thu 7 Mar 13

As a footnote to my previous post I must add that the proposed meeting did not take place.

The reason being that an election took place not long after my meeting with the then Leader and the voting population voted instead to remove from the post the ONLY Councillor on Wirral who actually had the B***S to take on this shower of law breakers and actually try to do something for US, the people of Wirral.

PS. Just for the record. I am not a Tory supporter nor have I ever Voted Tory. I have no faith in Party Politics and always vote for the candidate that most represents my views.
That said. If I lived in his ward, I would have broken my pledge to not vote Tory.

Thank you Cllr Green, for all you tried to do. But mostly for the letter that meant my Mother could finally Rest In Peace.

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PeteSheff says...
9:54pm Thu 7 Mar 13

If, as the report details, it was put in place to prioritise care.. Would it not have been called a 4 week guarantee of care?

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Flannigan says...
11:32pm Thu 7 Mar 13

The people who were affected by the months delay and their carers or families were not interviewed by Rob Vickers. The report is therefore not a balanced analysis of the real situation that took place.
It is illegal for a Council to deny care to a vulnerable person where that need has been established. It beggars belief that people who were assessed as needing critical and substantial care were denied it for a month.
Thank you whistleblowers.

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antisthenes says...
12:58am Fri 8 Mar 13

In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act. We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious truth is the first duty of intelligent men.

George Orwell

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PaulCa says...
10:13am Fri 8 Mar 13

On the same subject, here's a link to the 82 pages of the investigation that was carried out after members of the public rang the Four Week Delay "Helpline".

If you have sound, please put your speakers on........

http://tinyurl.com/c
tznq4n

Despite many attempts at contact, I should add that CouncillorJeff Green has been ignoring me for oh, probably well over a year now............

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RL 1952 says...
10:22am Fri 8 Mar 13

Cheesy Peas wrote:
Breath-taking.

First there definitely was no four week delay. Oh no sirree.

Then, er, the memo is unearthed which shames the lot of them and, er, actually, yes, there was a four week delay endorsed by the same senior managers who'd denied its existence.

And actually, it was a great idea!

Trebles all round for the escapology department at WBC, or DASS as it's also known.

Who DO you think you're kidding?

And where does "independent" Rob Vickers now work?

I think we should be told.
More devious and distasteful subterfuge, its the same council dept the same management team and in the main the same councillors who have chosen to sweep the AKA report and its findings under the carpet - Cllr Davies and his merry bunch should be absolutely ashamed of themselves they are failing to protect the old frail and vulnerable whilst protecting the incompetent and inept senior managers behind all these shameful episodes when will someone actually havev the b**ls to call the commissioners in as Wirral as a Council is ill managed and an insult to those who live in the area the council leadership has shown thjeir true colours and must be removed from office as at best their honesty and integrity is in question.

Report this post »

Cheesy Peas says...
10:32am Fri 8 Mar 13

Where are the Conservative Party?

And the Liberal Democrats?

Come on Cllrs Green, Rennie, Blakeley, Lewis, Fraser et al

Last year you were right. Why the silence now?

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RL 1952 says...
10:34am Fri 8 Mar 13

djrimmer wrote:
Havn`t a clue who "independent Rob Vickers" is but pound to a pinch he is a ex council exec from somewhere.
Yet again the Wirral public are fobbed off by so called "independent reviews"
The word INDEPENDANT is a joke when it comes to Wirral Council, it is just another word for a corrupt and flawed investigation commissioned by those who want to create a smoke screen to save their skins - remember Martin Morton and the AKA report that was swept under the carpet - what actions were taken to positively protect the old frail and vulnerable NONE, unlike the actions to protect the DASS staff from the top downwards!!!

Report this post »

PaulCa says...
10:43am Fri 8 Mar 13

Cheesy Peas wrote:
Where are the Conservative Party?

And the Liberal Democrats?

Come on Cllrs Green, Rennie, Blakeley, Lewis, Fraser et al

Last year you were right. Why the silence now?
Green has been pressed continually on this issue ever since he became the opposition.

Part of effective opposition is to highlight serious failings in the leadership. This is a BIGGIE, but as you say, he and his colleagues remain totally silent and ignore any pressure put on them to act.

He banged the table way back when on this one, but something has occurred in the meantime which seems to have bought about the current position of S I L E N C E.

What that is we may never know.

Lewis was making grand public declarations about himself not long back - I know you're reading this, so where do you stand on the four week delay in care, which may have caused the untimely death of one or more Wirral residents?

Report this post »

bigfoot says...
10:46am Fri 8 Mar 13

The truth is out there-somewhere.
We know where it is and it seems the council and their acolytes have lost their moral compass!

Report this post »

ArdalMcFardle says...
10:48am Fri 8 Mar 13

Dear Graham Burgess, people asked for you to be given a chance, well word is you blew it. We can see why Wee Pippy Davis was keen to get you in. WBC fits you like a glove.

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djrimmer says...
11:26am Fri 8 Mar 13

When I wrote,
Havn`t a clue who "independent Rob Vickers" is but pound to a pinch he is a ex council exec from somewhere.
Yet again the Wirral public are fobbed off by so called "independent reviews"

I honestly didnt have a clue as to who he was but my instinct told me there was something fishy. I thank Paul CA for his investigative prowess which confirmed my suspisions.Yet again another disgraceful "swerve" from Wirral Council. I was hoping Burgess would sort the mess out, I have now given up all hope.

Report this post »

LocaLGovwatcher says...
11:35am Fri 8 Mar 13

djrimmer wrote:
When I wrote,
Havn`t a clue who "independent Rob Vickers" is but pound to a pinch he is a ex council exec from somewhere.
Yet again the Wirral public are fobbed off by so called "independent reviews"

I honestly didnt have a clue as to who he was but my instinct told me there was something fishy. I thank Paul CA for his investigative prowess which confirmed my suspisions.Yet again another disgraceful "swerve" from Wirral Council. I was hoping Burgess would sort the mess out, I have now given up all hope.
Activism is the rent we pay for living on this planet. Giving up or losing hope is not an option. This road may be long but it is a worthwhile journey.

Report this post »

djrimmer says...
11:45am Fri 8 Mar 13

Local Govwatcher, I meant given up on Burgess....its not my nature to give up on a cause but I personally dont think we will ever get satisfaction from Wirral Council until some action is taken against them.

Report this post »

FarooqB says...
11:51am Fri 8 Mar 13

Dear Web Editor, you have deleted my last comments, the other day, Why? Don't you like to know the facts.

This article is absolutely beyond belief. First, DASS denied this policy ever existed, despite Andy Campbell's whistle-blowing revelation.

Next, former Council leader, Jeff Green made a public statement wanting to get to the bottom of this, appointed Michael Frater to investigate. His charges were around £1200 a day, £15,000 per month. How much was the total bill for that inquiry? Anyone !

And now this so called "Independent Reviewer" Rob Vickers vindicated Council officials? Which Council official? Hold on for a minute, I thought, Jeff Green, said he had found an evidence of this.

This Independent Reviewer got his rewards, by vindicating the mighty WBC. He knows which side his bread is buttered - WITH PUBLIC MONEY.

Report this post »

Growl Tiger says...
11:53am Fri 8 Mar 13

I have just read the “Independent” report. Clearly the Council is not at fault – once again it’s our interpretation of the available information that’s caused the problems through bloggers and that naughty Wirral Leaks!

I would suggest the only “desktop exercise” Mr Vickers has had is with a large tin of white emulsion. For his trouble he has been awarded the post of Interim Head of Branch Commissioning Performance and Engagement. Interim whilst they think of a longer title.

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water1lily says...
4:57pm Fri 8 Mar 13

Is it ok to bribe Mr Vickers I thought there were laws against it!

Report this post »

Flannigan says...
8:27pm Fri 8 Mar 13

An external agency needs to be brought in now to take evidence from both sides. A one sided report is not independant. The whistlblower and the people who were affected, their families and advocates need to be heard. Remember we are not just talking about one or two people here. Anyone who received a care package between 2008 and 2010 could have been affected. Social services must have in their records the dates of reviews, panels and the start of care. It is easy for them to establish how many were affected. Some of these people will have complained, but many more will not have known what was going on.
An assessed need for care which is critical and substantial cannot just be delayed for a month to save money. Its illegal.
This won't go away because too many people know the truth.

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