Ms B was forced to get a solicitor involved in early 2026
An isolated woman was left without a befriending service for six months because the council failed to put one in place, an Ombudsman has ruled.
Ms B, who has been kept anonymous, was being supported by the Mental Health Outreach Service (MHOS) in Westminster through an outreach worker. With discharge from the service looming, the Westminster City Council resident said she was left feeling anxious and like she would be left alone once this ended.
However, no befriending support was provided until the end of April 2026 — six months later, accounting for a three-week stay in hospital.
‘Anxious and alone’
At the start of September 2025, Ms B was formally discharged from the mental health team. A social worker went to visit Ms B shortly after and on October 7 she was referred to a befriending service.
In early 2026, Ms B was forced to get a solicitor involved to demand a second assessment. She finally began receiving the support she needed in April, including one hour a week of domestic support and two hours a week of social support.
The original October referral finally contacted Ms B one month later, although her new care package already provided social support.
Westminster City Council agreed to apologise to Ms B and pay her £100 as a symbolic payment, following a report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Timeline of events
Ms B’s original care package of a weekly 30-minute call was cancelled by the council in April 2025 because it claimed she was “not consistently engaging” with the service. In June 2025, the MHOS asked the council to reinstate this care as she was about to be discharged.
It said she was struggling with some domestic tasks and it had been unable to find a befriending service for her.
However, the council said it had been told by the MHOS that Ms B was functioning well so no assessment was needed.
Westminster City Council did not communicate this to Ms B, which the Ombudsman found to be a fault.
In July 2025, Ms B complained to the council and Ombudsman about the refusal to reassess her and asked for more support. The council said it had dealt with her complaint appropriately as she was still being supported by MHOS at that time.
This was found to be sound by the Ombudsman. It added that the council promptly assessed her care needs once the support from MHOS stopped.
Westminster City Council has not yet responded to the Local Democracy Reporting Service’s request for a comment.
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