A BRADFORD man who claims he was laughed at when discussing the care needs of a severely depressed family member has taken his grievance to a health care watchdog.

Steve White, 45, has reported a member of Bradford Council's access team to The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) for her "disgraceful" attitude when dealing with an NHS referral.

The regulatory body would not officially confirm whether Mr White's grievance related to one of its members, but the Council said it had begun an investigation into the formal complaint.

In a letter addressed to Kersten England, the authority's new chief executive, Mr White explained he received a call from the staff member involved because his relative had made a number of calls to 999 and the NHS 111 number.

Describing his 68-year-old family member, Mr White said they were suffering from extreme depression and had talked about ending their own life.

He then said his relative had previously refused the support of social services, at which point the staff member is alleged to have said: "You won't get much from us then, but I'll go through the standard spiel."

Mr White, of Highfield Road, Idle, said: "I was a bit taken aback by this, so I explained that the situation was serious and that I am on guard 24/7 and cannot cope with my relative's needs.

"At this point, the member of staff laughs at me, the situation, and my relative's predicament.

"I was completely devastated and challenged her on her attitude, and she replied that 'it was just funny.'

"I was utterly dumbfounded to receive such a response from a social worker.

"I have had to battle on alone for three years with my relative to receive this appalling response to my cry for help.

"I had to take the rest of the day off work, and possibly more days, as I cannot cope with the situation any longer, and that has been severely compounded by this person's disgraceful attitude.

"Luckily it was me that they rang, if they had rung my relative directly it could have been the final straw."

Mr White said he had asked for a recording of the telephone call, adding that he had taken his complaint to the HCPC, which keeps a register of health and care professionals.

He said he had received confirmation from the regulatory body that the complaint did relate to one of its members and was being looked into, but when contacted by the Telegraph & Argus, a spokesman for the HCPC said: "I cannot confirm whether or not a registrant is being investigated or a complaint has been made because the HCPC has a duty of confidentiality to both the complainant and the registrant."

Bernard Lanigan, Bradford Council's interim strategic director for Adult and Community Services, said: "We are currently investigating this complaint and cannot comment until that investigation has concluded."