UCI Written complaint confirming earlier tel calls.

This written complaint confirmation was sent 15/4 at 18:25

Attention UCI Trustees; The Managing Director of CIC; The Director of Social Work, NHS D&G Chief Executive and OSCR.

Unauthorised photography of a vulnerable learning disabled adult in Council / CIC care.  Formal complaint.

As you know from our very recent telephone calls it has come to our attention that UCI has taken and published in at least two promotional ‘newsletters’ several unauthorised photographs of Mr A.  We understand these photographs were taken at a care home, address detailed and possibly elsewhere by Morvan Cambell of UCI.  We understand that one image is for a newsletter to promote Personalisation on behalf of D&G Council and NHS Dumfries & Galloway.

We further understand, as published on www.dumfries-galloway.org.uk that UCI is not an independent charity in the normal sense of that word, but substantially funded by taxpayers cash via the Council and NHS.  Please will the UCI Chair of Trustees advise its formal complaints procedure and to what authority it is answerable in regulatory terms, that is in addition to OSCR.  Ditto CIC.

Since D&G Council & NHS Dumfries & Galloway fund Mr A’s care package the NHS Chief Executive and Director of Social Work should take note of this abuse of Mr A’s rights to privacy and tell us what they individually are going to do about it.

UCI is significantly funded by the Council & NHS and appears to be working to a Council / NHS brief to promote Personalisation.  Does this influence UCI actions and cause them to believe they can operate in this cavalier and unacceptable fashion, because they are under Council / NHS patronage?

As you know Mr A has appointed us, his parents, as his Welfare Attorneys under the Adults with Incapacity Act.

As supposed experts in ‘User and Carer Involvement’ and with CIC suppliers of care, all of you are or should be aware that you require written permission before taking photographs of vulnerable adults, let alone then publishing them in the way you have done.

You have no written permission and did not seek any.  That is simply inexcusable, given all the circumstances.

Therefore we insist that you immediately destroy all copies of any publication that contains any image of Mr A, which was taken without any permission and is being used without written permission from us.

When challenged in recent telephone calls, Morven Campbell claimed she had permission from the CIC Care Manager at ****** to take these photos.  That Manager then claimed that Mr A had given UCI permission.  This is contradictory and someone or both is/are not telling the truth and trying to cover up the facts.  But whoever is now claiming what, it has been admitted and established that neither organisation or person has obtained any required written permission whatsoever to take and use photographs of Mr A for this purpose.  Did you have such permission in advance from all the other vulnerable adults in the images you are using.  Or will you now try and create such permission after the event?

Ms Campbell has said that she cannot scrap the leaflet, because too many have been printed and it would cost too much.  In another case she says the leaflet and picture is only an internal image for a CIC / UCI document, so that’s OK.  For the other she has said she will go through each one and ‘black out’ Mr A.

Take note that we are now stating that is not acceptable.  A ‘blacked out’ image raises more questions and is not a solution.

You do not have permission and none is being granted.  We demand that you immediately destroy all leaflets and images of Mr A.  If you have published any then we demand on his behalf that these are recalled and destroyed.  Further that you all confirm to us in writing no later than 5pm Friday April 16^th this what you have done.  We also demand for Mr A an unreserved written apology for this abuse of his rights to privacy and an undertaking from the most senior person(s) in your organisations that such acts will never occur again and that you have taken necessary steps to ensure this.  UCI is clearly unfit as a charity to carry out this sort of role, which should be truly independent and run by properly trained and competent persons.

It seems that lip service is paid towards vulnerable adults, with a great rhetoric of protection.  This is it seems however until bodies like the Council, NHS, UCI and CIC want to do something for their own benefit and purposes, like promoting personalisation.  This is not good enough or acceptable.

We look forward to hearing from you all on Friday 16^th in writing to our email address: as supplied.  Thank you.  Mr & Mrs A

DGPPG Note: There was no action by Friday 16/4 as requested and no reply.  It was later discovered that it was not a “leaflet” but the UCI Annual Report 2009, which makes matters even worse.  UCI has admitted the photos were taken without proper written permission and Ms Campbell’s solution to “save money” was to use felt tip and scribble out the face.  Later Mr A received one of these Reports by post and was very upset saying, “Why is my face scribbled over?”.  Also Mr A is not a “Member” of UCI as the Report’s caption falsely claims.   As of Weds 21/4 the ‘blacked out and defaced’ reports were still being handed out by UCI.