An autistic child able to walk unaided was offered the use of a chair with foot straps, a lap strap, and a wheeled base to move him around a school during mealtimes.
A report, by the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO), also said the Western trust did not assess the child’s needs before approving the chairs, nor ask his parents for consent on their use.
In a critical report of the trust’s response to complaints from the child’s mother, the ombudsman found the chair caused him to be “restrained unnecessarily”.
There was also no assessment of whether he “could engage in school activities with or without the chair”.
NIPSO launched the investigation after the mother complained about the use of a wheeled chair to move her child through the facility and that she had not been consulted prior to its introduction.
Her son, who is non-verbal but can walk unaided, uses a special chair at mealtimes. The school claimed it was having difficulty moving him to the dining room and asked the Trust to add a wheeled base and a claimed “much too tight lap belt”, which it did so.
His mother argued this was an unnecessary restraint as he was able to walk but just needed time and encouragement to do so.
The report concluded that in approving and fitting the wheeled base to the chair the Trust did not fully consider the child’s human rights.
Following the objections from the mother, she was offered another, but this was a “highly specialist chair for a child who has very limited mobility”.
“It was more restrictive and had foot straps, a lap strap, and a wheeled base,” NIPSO stated.
Deputy Ombudsman Sean Martin said: “The failures in this case caused the child’s parents a huge amount of distress.
“Our investigation highlights the requirement for health professionals to involve patients, or in this case parents, and work closely with others, particularly schools before making decisions on appropriate equipment for use in a school setting. "
“The trust should have given guidance to the school on how to use the specialist chairs so that the child was only restrained when it was absolutely necessary.”
NIPSO welcomed the learning and service improvements the trust has implemented in response to the complaint.
A spokesperson for the Western Trust said: “The trust will be contacting the service user and their family to offer a sincere apology.
“We have accepted the findings and learning within the ombudsman’s report and an action plan has been developed to take the recommendations and learning forward.”
