A weekly update on adult social care complaint decisions

Summary: We do not find the Care Provider at fault for sending an invoice to the complainant for his late sister’s care. We accept the complainant did not know of the invoice until after his sister died. But we find the Care Provider had tried to make him aware sooner.

Summary: Mrs X complains the Council’s care provider, Stradbroke Court, was wrong to give her mother notice to leave, causing avoidable distress to her and her family. There should have been no reason for her mother to move from Stradbroke Court. The decision to evict her caused avoidable distress and put her at risk of harm. The Council needs to apologise and make symbolic payments to Mrs X and her mother.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council chasing her for payment of an invoice she had already paid. This is because we could not add to the Council’s investigation. Ms X has made additional complaints, which it is appropriate for the Council to investigate and respond before we consider whether our involvement is justified.

Summary: We have decided not to investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in carrying out a financial assessment. The Council has upheld the complaint and agreed to refund part of the care costs, which is an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused by the lack of initial costs information and its delay in completing the financial assessment. It will also share the learning from this complaint with relevant staff to prevent recurrence of the fault.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council not providing a social work service to Mr X. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is insufficient evidence of fault.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about care charges for her late relative, Ms Y’s residential care. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a reduction in Mr X’s care and support. There is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council made its decision, so we cannot question the outcome.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about his late father’s care fees. The complaint is late and there is not a good reason for the delay.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an Occupational Therapy assessment resulting in Miss X’s toilet being too high. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. Any ongoing delay by Miss X’s housing association is a matter for the Housing Ombudsman.

Summary: We have not found fault with the way the Council assessed Mrs C’s needs for care and support and offered her different options to meet her needs and move from her current accommodation.

Summary: Summary: Mr X complains on behalf of his father the Council failed to complete an assessment in the allocated time which led to him being in an unsuitable setting. Mr X says his family were charged for one-to-one care which he does not believe they should have been. Mr X says this has caused his family distress and they have incurred costs they shouldn’t have. We have found fault in the actions of the Council for failing to advise the likely costs of the care. We recommend the Council apologises and pays a financial payment to Mr X.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about what happened when a package of care at home ended. The package of care ended under the terms of the contract, so there is not enough evidence of fault. It is unlikely an Ombudsman investigation would reach a different or worthwhile outcome. So investigation is not justified.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s adult social care provision as there is not enough evidence of fault causing significant injustice.

Summary: Mr B complained the Council relied on incorrect and irrelevant factors when it decided to include his grandmother’s house in her financial assessment. We find no fault with the Council’s decision making.

Summary: Mrs Z, on behalf of her father Mr X, complained the Council allowed a debt to accrue for adult social care services. The Council accepts fault in its failure to communicate with Mr X about the unpaid domiciliary care charges and allowing them to accrue to over £9,000. The Council has already taken action to provide a suitable remedy for this complaint.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s complaint-handling. It is not a good use of public funds to consider complaints processes in isolation. In any event, the substantive matter Mr X complained to the Council about would now be too late for us to consider, and there is insufficient evidence of fault or injustice in other more recent elements of the complaint.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s installation of a hand rail in Mr X’s home. The complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the failure to tell the complainant of her relative’s death. We understand the distress this caused, but we are satisfied the care provider, on behalf of the council, has given a thorough response, apologised, and will seek to improve future service. We would not achieve anything further. While this does not answer all the complainant’s questions, it would not be proportionate for us to investigate to seek such information.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to revoke direct payments for a care worker who was providing care to her child. Further investigation is unlikely to achieve a different outcome.

Summary: Mrs X complains the Council was at fault in the way a care home it commissioned cared for her mother Mrs Y causing distress. We have found no evidence of fault by the Council in the way it has charged Mrs Y for her stay at the care home. We found no evidence of fault in the standard of care provided to Mrs Y over her weight and nutritional needs. The Council has accepted there was fault in the way the care provider responded to Mrs X’s complaints about the matter, apologised and offered a suitable remedy in recognition of the distress caused. We found fault in the way the care home dealt with Mrs Y’s hearing aids, glasses and clothing which has adversely impacted onto Mrs X. I have recommended a suitable remedy in this case, so we have completed our investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to pay her mother’s full care home fees and its decision that her mother can be safely moved to a cheaper care home. This is because the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused by the likely fault.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council delay managing an empty property. The Council has accepted its delays and offered a symbolic payment to acknowledge the impact. We are satisfied with the Council’s actions. It is unlikely an Ombudsman investigation would achieve anything further. The complainant wants to claim for damage to his property. The relevant insurers or a court would be better placed to decide liability for damage to property.

Summary: Mr X complains there was fault in the Council’s care assessment of his mother-in-law, Mrs J. He says this caused family disagreement and financial loss because he and his sister-in-law considered they had no option but to start legal action which was later found to be unnecessary. The Council was at fault, but it did not cause the claimed injustice.

Summary: Ms X complained for her father, Mr Y, about the Council’s decision to find there was a deprivation of Mr Y’s assets when the family bought a life insurance bond following the sale of Mr Y’s home. There was no fault in the Council’s decision-making.

Summary: Mrs X complained on behalf of her son, Mr Y about the way the Council dealt with his day service. The Council failed to provide a day service for Mr Y and there was inadequate communication about this matter. This caused distress, uncertainty and frustration to Mrs X and Mr Y. The Council has already apologised for this and offered a payment, it will also take action to address the issue of the day service.

Summary: Mr X complains on behalf of Mrs Y that the Council has overcharged for her care. The Council is at fault because it did not review Mrs Y’s care needs or address Mr X’s concerns about excessive care provision early enough. Mrs Y was charged for unnecessary care provision. The Council should apologise, recalculate care charges, provide guidance to staff and review the Care Provider’s action plan to identify other learning.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council placing him in a mental health care home. This is because there are no worthwhile outcomes achievable from an investigation. In addition, some of Mr X’s complaints are late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council’s financial assessment was wrong. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about continuity of adult social care when moving to another council area. Any fault of the Council does not cause the injustice of a lack of support once moved, because that was the responsibility of the new authority. There is no worthwhile outcome to justify an investigation. We cannot ask the Council to backdate care it was not responsible for.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council not providing him with the care and support he feels he needs. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

Summary: Ms X complains about the quality of care her parents received during a respite stay in September 2022 and the way in which her complaints about this were handled. The Care Provider has investigated Ms X’s concerns, apologised and is taking action to improve. We could not add to the Care Provider’s responses or make a different finding of the kind Ms X wants.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care in the client’s home. This is because thorough investigations have already taken place and actions taken in response. It is unlikely the Ombudsman would achieve a significantly different outcome to justify investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the care Mr B received at the care provider’s home after leaving hospital, which his son Mr C says contributed to a significant decline in his health and caused his family distress. This is because we have no power to investigate the provision of health care rather than social care, and because there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the care provider kept Mr B’s family informed more generally about personal social care matters.

Summary: We uphold Mrs Y’s complaint about her grandmother’s care. We found fault with Mrs X’s continence care and some aspects of her end of life care. We also found fault with the Care Home’s record keeping and the Council’s communication. As a result, Mrs X did not always receive the care she needed. Mrs Y and her mother were also caused frustration and uncertainty. We recommend the Council and the Care Home apologise to Mrs Y and her mother and make improvements to processes.