A woman suffering chronic paranoid schizophrenia had to pay £14,000 for care that should have been paid by Lewisham council, according to the Ombudsman.  

The patient, known only as Mrs X, was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in March 2016 after an accidental fire in her home.  

It was agreed after her release four months later that it was in her best interests to stay in extra care sheltered accommodation. 

Under section 117 of the Mental Health Act, which applies after a sectioned patient is released, it is the council’s and Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)’s duty to meet aftercare needs for as long as necessary.  

Accommodation is covered if the need for it arises from the reason the person was sectioned, as it did in Mrs X’s case.  

But after a series of delays from Lewisham Council, Lewisham CCG and the South London Maudsley Trust, Mrs X was forced to pay £14,000 for rent, service charges and utilities.  

Someone who knew the patient, known as Ms X, contacted the Ombudsman after repeated failures to get the council to hand over owed money, which started in July 2017.  

Along the way, the council promised to refund Mrs X for payments and charges but continuously failed to do so.  

It said it was waiting for the community mental health team to do a review and get advice from a psychiatry consultant but provided “no evidence” the team had contacted the consultant, according to the Ombudsman’s report.  

Things worsened when Mrs X’s housing benefit – which should not have been used in the first place – was stopped, causing her to go into rent arrears at the sheltered housing.  

Mrs X had repeated reviews into her wellbeing but no report said she no longer needed aftercare.  

After an investigation, the Ombudsman found that “faults by the Trust, council, and CCG led to Mrs X paying for accommodation which should have been free section 117 aftercare”.  

“Faults by the council in dealing with Ms X’s enquiries and complaints caused her unnecessary time and trouble,” it added.  

The Ombudsman also found fault with the council and Trust assessing Mrs X’s needs separately when it should have been done jointly, while the Trust failed to involve her family in an assessment meeting in March 2019.  

The council must now refund any rent, service and utilities charges Mrs X has paid since 2016, minus housing benefit, and start to pay for all of the above until a review decides she no longer needs aftercare.  

It must also apologise to Ms X and pay her £500. 

“To prevent similar problems in future, within three months of this final decision, the council, CCG and Trust will ensure all relevant policies and procedures make it clear the duty to pay for accommodation which is part of section 117 aftercare lies with the relevant council and CCG, and that patients should not be asked to claim Housing Benefit instead,” according to the Ombudsman.  

Relevant staff must know the law, guidance and policy related to section 117 aftercare, it added.  

A joint statement from Lewisham Council and Lewisham CCG said: “The council, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Lewisham CCG recognise that errors were made in this case.  

“We fully accept the Ombudsman’s findings and worked with Mrs X to resolve the issues identified.” 

A South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson, added: “We would like to offer our sincere condolences to the family of Ms X on their recent bereavement.  

“The Ombudsman has completed their investigation and the Trust, together with the Council and CCG have accepted his recommendations for service improvements and to address the injustice to Mrs X.   

“South London & Maudsley NHS Trust will continue working with Lewisham Social services and Lewisham CCG to ensure that lessons are learnt from this case and are embedded in future practice.”