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London Borough of Waltham Forest (22 011 619)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Disabled facilities grants 04-Apr-2023
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about disabled facilities grant adaptations. Most of his complaint is late. And for those matters which are not late, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
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East Riding of Yorkshire Council (22 016 905)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Charging 04-Apr-2023
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s decision that her mother in law had deprived herself of assets by transferring her share of a property to her son. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault with the way the Council made its decision.
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Somerset County Council (22 017 155)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Assessment and care plan 04-Apr-2023
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision his mother Mrs Y’s 2021 payments to him and his sister amounted to a deprivation of assets to fund Mrs Y’s care fees, or its delay in dealing with his complaint. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making process or the decision itself to warrant investigation. We do not investigate councils’ complaint-handling where we are not investigating the core issue which gave rise to the complaint.
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Lancashire County Council (22 013 521)
Statement Upheld Direct payments 04-Apr-2023
Summary: Mr Y complains about delay in the Council’s assessment of Ms Z’s social care needs. He says this created significant financial loss and distress because Ms Z’s care and support needs were initially unfunded between March and November 2022. The Council has now agreed to backdate direct payment funding for the whole period during which Ms Z’s daughter has provided care. We agree this is an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused by fault.
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London Borough of Hillingdon (22 016 665)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Domiciliary care 04-Apr-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about damages to Mr C’s property. This is because claims for damages are for insurance company’s or courts to determine. It would be reasonable for Mr C to ask his insurers or the court to consider his claim for damages.
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Gloucestershire County Council (22 007 612)
Statement Upheld Residential care 04-Apr-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care. This is because we cannot find an officer was at fault when they took photographs of Ms C. The Council has proposed appropriate action to acknowledge Ms B’s distress caused by failures in its communication with her about Ms C's care placement.
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Cheshire West & Chester Council (22 016 716)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Assessment and care plan 03-Apr-2023
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about where Mrs B should live. This is because we cannot consider matters subject to court proceedings.
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Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council (22 013 466)
Statement Not upheld Disabled facilities grants 03-Apr-2023
Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to carry our adaptations properly at her property and about how she has been treated throughout the process. The Ombudsman does not find fault in the Council’s actions.
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Restful Homes (Midlands) Ltd. (22 012 508)
Statement Not upheld Charging 03-Apr-2023
Summary: There is no evidence that the care provider’s actions in respect of the Funded Nursing Contribution (FNC) payments caused any injustice to Mr X or his family.
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North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council (22 009 167)
Statement Upheld Covid-19 03-Apr-2023
Summary: Ms X complains the Council has failed to deal properly with her over the use of her direct payments during the COVID-19 pandemic, having ignored Government Guidance and then accused her of misusing them, leaving her distressed and afraid of accepting further direct payments. The Council failed to reassess her needs in May 2021, failed to take account of the need for flexibility over the use of direct payments and failed to address her questions about the use of her direct payments. This caused avoidable distress and left Ms X without the support she needed. The Council needs to apologise and pay financial redress.
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Cheshire East Council (22 011 312)
Statement Upheld Direct payments 02-Apr-2023
Summary: Mrs L complained about the way the Council handled her mother, Mrs X’s direct payments. Mrs L said the Council was misleading and confusing in its communication and demanded payment Mrs X did not owe. The Council failed to provide clear and transparent financial information, incorrectly calculated Mrs X’s account three times and delayed in pursuing the debt for 20 months. The Council will write off Mrs X’s outstanding charges and pay Mrs X and Mrs L £200 each to recognise the frustration and uncertainty this caused.
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Cornwall Council (22 011 936)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Charging 02-Apr-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council assessed Mr X’s adult social care contributions. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
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Portsmouth City Council (22 014 563)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Safeguarding 02-Apr-2023
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about Portsmouth City Council’s safeguarding enquiries. Mrs X should have complained sooner to us, and if we did investigate, we would most likely not be able to achieve a meaningful outcome.
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Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (22 012 671)
Statement Upheld Charging 02-Apr-2023
Summary: Mr W and Ms X complain about a Nursing Home unfairly charging their father, Mr Y, top-up fees after Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council and two NHS Trust’s jointly placed him on a ‘Discharge to Assess’ bed. We have decided to end our investigation. This is because the Council has agreed to provide a remedy which would resolve Mr W and Ms X’s complaint.
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Bupa Care Homes (PT Lindsay) Limited (22 014 346)
Statement Upheld Residential care 02-Apr-2023
Summary: We have upheld a complaint about poor nutritional care. The Care Provider has already offered an appropriate payment to reflect the injustice to Mrs Y. It will carry out a spot check to ensure improvements to practice are being implemented.
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Lancashire County Council (22 016 608)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 02-Apr-2023
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint, made on behalf of Miss Y, about the Council’s process to find Miss Y a supported living placement by summer 2023. That process is ongoing and there is no different outcome an investigation would achieve now. The Council’s apology remedies the stress and anxiety caused by delay in the process so a different outcome could not be achieved for this issue. There is not enough unremedied significant personal injustice to Mrs X or Miss Y caused by the Council’s actions and decisions so far to justify an investigation.
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London Borough of Redbridge (22 016 371)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 02-Apr-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council’s alleged failure to follow its own process when it suspended Mr X’s carer’s allowance following a safeguarding referral. This is because we would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.
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Kent County Council (22 010 647)
Statement Not upheld Direct payments 30-Mar-2023
Summary: Mrs X complained the Council did not agree to pay for an increase in fees to the support agency that meets her son’s care needs. She said this was unfair and caused distress and uncertainty as they are at risk of losing the current service. We have not found the Council at fault for how it made its decision not to increase its direct payments for Mrs X’s son.
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Lancashire County Council (22 016 857)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 30-Mar-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to accept adult social care decisions taken by a court appointed deputy. This is because the Council has apologised to the deputy, will better support the deputies, and is improving guidance for its staff for working with deputies. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
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Community Health Services (22 017 919)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 30-Mar-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about who the care home chose to admit. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault.
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Gloucestershire County Council (22 016 504)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Covid-19 30-Mar-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about quality of care and inadequate isolation when Mr Y was moved to a different care home amid a COVID-19 outbreak. There is not a good reason for the length of delay in the complaint bring brought to the Ombudsman. We also could not achieve a more meaningful outcome for Mrs X.
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Kent County Council (22 016 581)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Charging 30-Mar-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to charge Mr X’s mother the full cost of her care home placement. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault with the way the Council made its decision.
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Fenland District Council (22 001 203)
Statement Not upheld Disabled facilities grants 30-Mar-2023
Summary: Miss X complained the Council had not done enough to provide adaptations for her home. We found the Council was not at fault, because Miss X’s landlord had not agreed to the adaptations. So, the Council could not pay a disabled facilities grant.
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Staffordshire County Council (22 005 255)
Statement Upheld Covid-19 30-Mar-2023
Summary: Mrs X complained about charges made for her son’s care during the COVID-19 pandemic and a failure to offer him respite care sooner. We found fault. The Council misadvised Mrs X, failed to act when alerted to an increase in her son’s travel costs and failed to consider her needs as a carer in a May 2021 needs assessment. The Council accepts these findings. It has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and give her a symbolic payment to remedy the injustice arising from these faults. It has also agreed to service improvements to prevent a repeat of the faults found, detailed at the end of this statement.
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LA Carers Ltd (22 006 764)
Statement Not upheld Domiciliary care 30-Mar-2023
Summary: Mr C complained about the time taken for Mrs Y’s carers to be trained to take over applying leg wraps from the practice nurse. He says this caused him time and trouble because he had to regularly take Mrs Y to the nurse at the GP’s surgery for this. We find the Care Provider did not follow up the training as soon as it could have done but this was not sufficient to say it caused injustice.
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Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (22 009 552)
Statement Upheld Residential care 30-Mar-2023
Summary: Mr B complained that his mother’s care home failed to keep a proper record of Mrs D’s dental care, failed to provide the dental care in line with the care plan and did not amend the care plan appropriately. The Home also did not properly monitor Mrs D’s hydration towards the end of her stay at the care home and failed to act soon enough when Mrs D’s nutrition intake and her weight declined. We have found fault and the Council has agreed to apologise, pay a financial remedy and remind the care home of its duties.
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Leicester City Council (21 004 997)
Statement Upheld Safeguarding 30-Mar-2023
Summary: There were some faults by the Council, and the care provider in the way that they handled arrangements for Ms Y’s care package. The Council has agreed the recommended remedy.
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Suffolk County Council (21 013 628)
Statement Not upheld Direct payments 30-Mar-2023
Summary: Mrs G complains the Council wrongly asked for direct payments for her daughter’s care to be returned. We have not found fault by the Council.
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London Borough of Bromley (22 008 659)
Statement Upheld Domiciliary care 30-Mar-2023
Summary: Mr X complained that agency A left Mrs Y without care and support when it withdrew its services without notice. He says this caused Mrs Y and Mr X distress and Mrs Y’s needs were not met. We find service failure and injustice caused to Mrs Y. We make no recommendations due to the specific circumstances in this case.
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London Borough of Tower Hamlets (22 016 698)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Domiciliary care 29-Mar-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care provided to Ms E in her home. This is because the Council has accepted and acknowledged failings in its service and apologised for the stress this caused. The Council has explained how it monitors and intervenes to improve service. It is unlikely we could add to the Council’s investigation or reach a different outcome.
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Hartlepool Borough Council (22 015 898)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 29-Mar-2023
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about matters relating to his partner’s decision not to see him anymore. This is because there is no sign of fault by the Council.
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Devon County Council (22 016 671)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Transport 29-Mar-2023
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to decline her application for a blue badge. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault with the way the Council considered her application.
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Devon County Council (22 009 919)
Statement Not upheld Residential care 29-Mar-2023
Summary: We investigated a complaint about a hospital discharge and care provided to Ms Y in a care home. We found fault with the Trust, who did not initially involve Mrs X with the discharge planning for Ms Y in March 2021. The Trust has apologised to Mrs X and made service improvements to ensure the fault does not happen again. We consider this to be enough to remedy the injustice to Mrs X. We also found fault with the Health Centre, who did not speak to Mrs X before prescribing antidepressants to Ms Y. This caused Mrs X unnecessary worry and distress. The Health Centre agreed to apologise and make service improvements to remedy this injustice. We found no fault with the Council.
