AN inspection of services for disabled adults in Darlington has criticised waiting times for occupational therapy.

A report by the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) from an inspection carried out in February, states: "Waiting lists for the occupational therapy service were unacceptably long."

Darlington borough councillors will hear a summary of the report at a meeting today.

It states: "At the time of the inspection 67 people had been waiting since 2002 for an occupational therapist to assess their needs following an initial screening process."

It continues: "There were unacceptable delays in passing some referrals between the information and assessment team and occupational therapy."

In an action plan drawn up by social services in response to the report, the council aims to reduce waiting times for occupational therapy to nil by December.

The inspection consulted service users and carers. The report said two-thirds of service users were satisfied with the support they received from social services.

However, they were highly critical of the quality of domiciliary care from some independent providers, the limited provision of short-term and respite care for young adults was acknowledged, and facilities for younger deaf people were limited.

The council was also criticised for not developing a range of complaints formats to assist service users who had difficulty communicating. Public information was also not always accessible.

Transport provision was also criticised by service users, and the SSI recommended the authority's transport plan be reviewed to help improve disabled access.

Areas for development are being addressed by social services in a 12 point action plan, that aims to resolve issues by December.

The overall judgement of the inspection by the SSI was that most people were being served well and that prospects for improvement were promising.

The council was praised for improvements in community equipment services, and its good links with Darlington Action on Disability.

Assessments for people with sensory impairments were praised in the report, although deaf people had difficulties in accessing information, it said.