Report critical of lack of adoption information
A couple were given inaccurate information about a child’s health ahead of adoption, causing “avoidable distress and frustration” when a neurodevelopmental condition emerged, a report says.
The family proceeded with adoption after a social worker said “Child B” had tested negative for foetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD), but a later investigation found this “may have been referring to Child B’s older sibling”.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s anonymised report said “Mr X” and his wife had another child to consider so, before adopting Child B, told adoption staff they “may not be able to manage a child with FASD”.
The watchdog says the child is “very much a part of the family now”, but says Telford and Wrekin Council’s faults could have led to a breakdown of the placement.
It ordered the authority to apologise and pay £5,400 in recognition of the mistaken information and “unreasonable delay” handling the complaint, which it agreed to do.
The LGO report, which doesn’t reveal Child B’s age or gender, says minutes of a pre-adoption “life history meeting” referred to a negative FASD test result, but adds “there is no reference to this test in the other documents like the adoption medical report”.
After adoption, a consultant paediatrician diagnosed “alcohol-related neurodevelopment disorder” and Child B received therapy as a result.
A “stage two investigation”, involving an independent investigator, said “the explanation for the wrong information about the negative FASD test […] was that the social worker may have been referring to Child B’s older sibling who may have been tested”.
The report says this error delayed later diagnosis and treatment.
It adds that Mr X accuses the council of being deliberately misleading, and complains of delays in showing him records detailing “the birth mother’s history and that her excessive drinking was a known fact”.
The council investigation made “no finding the council deliberately misled Mr X and his wife”, but found it had “failed to chase up information from health professionals about the birth mother’s drinking during pregnancy”, resulting in “partial and, therefore, misleading” information.
The investigator recommended the council admit its failings, apologise, and improve pre-adoption information-sharing and its complaint process.
The LGO report says the council “explained how the adoption service has improved since 2010 and produced an action plan in late 2019 to improve future adoption services”, but Mr X “felt the council’s subsequent response was not adequate”, so the case was referred to the LGO.
In its report, the watchdog says the council’s actions “amount to fault”, but says it is “a matter for a court to decide” whether it acted “negligently or deliberately”.
It adds: “There have also been excessive delays in dealing with Mr X’s complaints, first made in September 2017, and the stage one response failed to refer to vital but known information about the information provided at the life history meeting.
“The identified faults have caused injustice to the family in that they have resulted in avoidable distress, frustration, time and trouble.”
The ombudsman also finds the council at fault for not allowing Mr X’s request for a complaints review panel.
Telford and Wrekin Council has been approached for comment.
