Concerns over “serious failings” in Redbridge’s safeguarding systems have been raised after the deaths of two vulnerable adults.

An annual review by Redbridge Council’s safeguarding adults board says the number of concerns over safeguarding raised in the borough has increased over the past year.

The council’s cabinet heard on Tuesday evening that a 54-year-old woman with severe learning difficulties drowned in her bath while a carer was in her home and a 72-year-old man was found dead in his flat after a fire.

Ms A, a 54-year-old lady with severe learning difficulties, was receiving care at her home 24 hours a day, seven days a week. She was exhibiting “challenging behaviour” and had complex care needs.

She died in January 2014 after drowning in her bath, even though a carer was in her home.

That carer failed to call an ambulance for almost an hour after discovering Ms A and was sent to prison in February 2016 for criminal neglect.

In its report, Redbridge’s Safeguarding Board agreed “without reservation” that Ms A had suffered from “serious failings” in both quality of care and and quality of professional oversight.

But the group could not confirm that Ms A’s death had been directly caused by these failings, as the cause of her death “remained uncertain”.

The report also highlighted there was a shortage of appropriate care for those with the most complex needs and challenging behaviour in Redbridge and that the council must address this.

The second case saw how Mr B, a 72-year-old man living alone in Seven Kings, died after suffering a heart attack and falling into an electric fire in his bedroom in November 2016.

Just three months before in September 2016, Mr B had alerted his neighbours by calling for help after becoming stuck in his bath for three days.

The man was freed by police and the fire brigade and taken to King George Hospital for three weeks in one of many hospital trips since 2009, but no safeguarding concerns were raised during any of those visits.

The police who saved Mr B from his bath expressed “extreme and graphic concern” over the condition of Mr B’s flat, describing his home as “extremely bad and not a fit environment for somebody to live in.”

Following the bath incident, nurses visited Mr B’s home and made two urgent requests for social care assistance, but social services had no contact with Mr B before his death in November 2016.

Redbridge’s Safeguarding Board stated the social services system at Seven Kings was “inadequate, unsafe, unfocused

and lacking in sound practice, supervision and management” and that there were “significant issues” with communication and responsiveness of the system at the time of Mr B’s death.

Seven Kings has since produced a detailed report for the Safeguarding Board and reassured them that joint visits between social care workers and health professionals have become “commonplace” to ensure problems are resolved quickly in future.

The Safeguarding Adults Board also expressed concerns over how long it had taken for Ms A and Mr B’s cases to come to review and has recommended authorities look into the area’s review procedures.

Last month, the Safeguarding Adults Board admitted it had not yet investigated any of nine deaths of homeless individuals that occurred on Redbridge’s streets since November 2017.

The board’s independent chairman, John Goldup, said it was not yet clear whether any of the deaths met the threshold for investigation.

A spokesman for NEFLT confirmed its formal partnership with Redbridge Council’s Adult Social Care department and said the trust and Redbridge Council will review the arrangements in place to identify vulnerable adults with the most complex needs and ensure each has a professional responsible for the coordination of their care arrangements.

A spokesman for Redbridge Council said: “The whole purpose of these reviews is to gain learning. We fully accept the findings of the reviews and are working with partners to ensure that recommendations are implemented.”