New inquiry call in Jennyfer Spencer case

Published: 17 June 2010
by TOM FOOT

A DISABILITY charity has backed calls for a public inquiry into the death of Jennyfer Spencer, the severely disabled woman found dead in her un-adapted fifth floor council flat seven years after applying for an emergency transfer.

Gillian Hall, chairwoman of Disability in Camden (DISC), believes the case has highlighted “a lack of co-ordination” between departments in the Town Hall.

She said: “A public inquiry would be both useful and reassuring to establish that everything possible was done or that the systems in place are not adequate and need to be looked at.”

Ms Spencer left a letter to the New Journal warning that “no human or animal should be treated as I have” and urging investigation into her fight for better housing and social care after her death.

The 46-year-old, who was confined to a wheelchair following a triple brain haemorrhage in 2003, rejected five offers for a new home until 2007 when the offers stopped.

Ms Spencer had written to social services in March 2009 warning against a decision to cut of her care payments and warning she would be found “dead” in her home, adding: “serious questions will be asked about your liability”. 

She had not been spending her payments correctly and so the council sent agency carers to her home three times a day for a month in May 2009, but they were repeatedly refused entry, the council said.

Ms Spencer was found dead, as she predicted, one year later on March 1 2010. 

During an inquest into her death on June 7, a coroner said he could find “no evidence of neglect” by any agency or the local authority.

Ms Hall, who has worked for DISC for 20 years, said: “In spite of Jennyfer’s repeated turning down of the offers on account of their being too small, neither her social worker nor occupational therapist picked up on this and checked with housing. 

“The conclusion to be drawn from this is that there is a lack of co-ordination and communication between departments when dealing with individual clients.”

A council spokeswoman said: “We were extremely sorry to learn of the death of Ms Spencer and our thoughts are with her friends and family. While we welcome the coroner’s ruling on our handling of Ms Spencer’s case, which clarified that there was no gross misconduct or negligence on the part of the council, we will, of course, always look to see if there are any areas in our services where improvements can be made.”