On the 21st of August 2014 Ms Lindsay Scott, supervised by Mr Drew Lyall, Mental Health Officers in West Dunbartonshire, began an investigation under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 which concerned a Power of Attorney granted on the 9th of July 2014 by the late Marion McLaren Boyle of Renton, Dunbartonshire. Miss Boyle was at that time 99 years old.
As part of her Care Plan confirmed by the Local Authority because of her advanced age and specific needs she was entitled to and awaiting a priority placement at Langcraigs care home.
On or about the 22nd of August 2014 Ms Scott ordered an entry to be made on the main Local Authority information system preventing Miss Boyle from being offered any chance of a placement at Langcraigs care home until the investigation was concluded. The prohibition against her being offered any placement was entered without Miss Boyle being told. No notification of the prohibition was made to any member of her family, her doctors, her lawyers or the holder of her Power of Attorney.
Following strong concerns voiced by Miss Boyle’s family to the Local Authority as to how the investigation was being conducted by Ms Scott and Mr Lyall , and in particular their failure to obtain any relevant medical evidence on capacity at the time the Power of Attorney was granted, the Local Authority ordered Ms Scott to obtain such evidence immediately. Upon that evidence being obtained in early December 2014 the Local Authority abandoned the investigation forthwith. None of the reports written by Ms Scott and Mr Lyall were proceeded with. A placement at Longcraigs was given immediately thereafter to Miss Boyle. She died in February 2015, aged 100.
A formal complaint was made by Miss Boyle’s family to the Local Authority about the conduct of the investigation by Ms Scott and Mr Lyall. The complaint cited a number of areas including unwarranted delay, considerable errors of judgement, the failure to obtain relevant medical evidence and the unjustified imposition of a prohibition against Miss Boyle receiving her care home priority placement. As part of the Local Authority Complaints procedure an independent committee of enquiry was convened to hear the evidence from all relevant parties to the complaint. The Social Work Complaints Sub- Committee dealing with the complaint examined documentation and heard evidence, including submissions from both Ms Scott and Mr Lyall, over two days. The findings of that committee, issued on the 19th of November 2015, were as follows:
The specific findings of the Social Work Sub-Committee in relation to the conduct of the investigation by Ms Lindsay Scott and Mr Drew Lyall
Significant errors and mistakes were made by those carrying out the investigation. The Committee noted that the Local Authority accepted this.
The basis of the investigation by the social workers was itself confused.
The validity of a Power of Attorney granted by the adult had been questioned. During the investigation it had become clear that there were no grounds for challenging the Power of Attorney and it was also clear that the personal welfare of the adult was not at risk.
During the initial period of the investigation there was a failure on the part of those carrying out the investigation to obtain appropriate medical evidence in relation to the capacity of the adult. That medical evidence should have been obtained from the doctor who had previously examined the adult.
There were delays in carrying out the investigation which were unnecessary.
A prohibition had been placed on moving the adult from a hospital to a care home. There was no justification for that prohibition.
In 2017 a separate formal complaint was made on behalf of Miss Boyle’s family to the Scottish Social Services Council about the standards of conduct of the two Mental Health Officers, Ms Scott and Mr Lyall, when carrying out the investigation.
The Council examined Ms Scott’s conduct of the investigation. It made a formal finding in January 2018 that there were serious errors in that investigation and cited a number of instances of deficient practice. It found that taken as a whole the conduct of Ms Scott fell below the professional standards expected of a social worker by the Scottish Social Services Council.
The Council considered the complaints against Mr Lyall relating both to the conduct of the investigation and his supervision of it. The Council made a formal finding in January 2018 that serious errors had occurred in the course of the investigation. It cited instances of deficiencies and found that his conduct in the investigation taken as a whole fell below the professional standards expected. In addition, and in relation to his conduct as senior Mental Health Officer with the responsibility for supervising the investigation, the SSSC found that his supervision of the investigation fell below the professional standards expected by the Scottish Social Services Council.