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

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

Darlington Borough Council meets today and will hear a summary of the report.

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.

"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 with service users and their carers. The report states two thirds of service users were satisfied by 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 have difficulty communicating through usual methods. Public information was also not always accessible. Transport provision also came under fire from service users, and the inspectorate recommended the authority's transport plan is reviewed to help to improve disabled access to services.

Areas for development are being addressed by Social Services in a 12-point action plan, which aims to resolve issues by December.

The overall judgement of the inspection is that most people are being served well by the council and that prospects for improvement are promising.

The council is praised for improvements in community equipment services, and its good links with Darlington Action on Disability. Assessments for people with sensory impairment were praised, although deaf people have difficulties accessing information.