Funding row delays NHS equipment

A woman with disabilities waited three years for vital equipment because NHS bodies could not agree who should pay for it, a health watchdog has found. In 2003, carers said Sarah Dadd, 28, from Cogan near Cardiff, should be given a specialist bed. In 2004 they said she needed a specialist chair too.

Ombudsman Adam Peat has criticised two NHS trusts and a local health board for not providing the equipment until 2006. He also recommended that Ms Dadd's parents receive £2,000 compensation.

Ms Dadd, who has a learning disability, epilepsy and cerebral palsy, is cared for by her parents at their home. In autumn 2003, her sleeping arrangements were deemed unsafe by care professionals, who said she needed a specialist profiling bed. In March 2004, they decided that a seating system was also required.

The ombudsman found that while the Vale of Glamorgan Local Health Board (LHB) commissions services for clients in its area from the Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, acute and specialist services for learning disability clients are commissioned from Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust.

The three bodies met in April 2004 over responsibility for providing the necessary equipment but no agreement was reached.

Ms Dadd's father William said his daughter has "real need but the authorities that were involved didn't seem to care less". "They didn't even reply to my letters," he said. "Basically it seems that if you need anything you have got to keep on pushing. Our life is hard enough with a disabled daughter without having to go to those lengths to achieve it."

The ombudsman found that the bed and chair did not arrive until October 2006 when the Vale of Glamorgan LHB bought it.

Ms Dadd's mother Linda said the equipment had improved her daughter's quality of life as well as that of everybody involved in her care. "It means that Sarah can sleep well and we can in turn which means we can look after her better," she said Mr Peat said the three bodies failed to respond with appropriate urgency to a need that all agreed should be met.

He also said the LHB should have funded the necessary equipment for Ms Dadd as an interim measure at an earlier stage. The ombudsman also criticised both trusts for failing to engage constructively and with a sense of urgency with the LHB to resolve the dispute.

In addition to the compensation, Mr Peat said the LHB should apologise to the Dadds and made recommendations to all the bodies to remedy the failings.

"It is wholly unacceptable that this equipment was not provided at the time that the need was identified simply because the three NHS bodies involved could not agree which of them should pay the costs," said Mr Peat. "At the end of the day it would be funded by NHS money, no matter whose budget it came out of."