North Yorkshire CC (04C06322)

Adult care services                      Maladministration causing injustice

 29 September 2005

‘Mrs Talbot’(not her real name for legal reasons) was concerned about the adequacy of care given to her late brother and about how the Council subsequently dealt with her complaints about this. Prior to his death, Mrs Talbot’s brother lived alone and suffered from multiple sclerosis, heart disease and eczema.

The Ombudsman found maladministration in that the Council had failed either to arrange a multidisciplinary meeting about Mrs Talbot’s brother or to explain clearly why there was no such meeting. There was also a failure to obtain relevant information from the brother’s GP and a failure to properly review arrangements that had been put in place for him. The Ombudsman was, however, doubtful if any failures lead to a significant loss to the brother, who was generally reluctant to accept the level of help desired by his sister.

The Ombudsman also found maladministration in the way that the Council responded to Mrs Talbot’s complaint. There was a lack of information and of appropriate contact. A report prepared as part of the process was inadequate in that it failed to include evidence to substantiate the conclusion.

The Council had already made changes to its administrative procedures to account for failures that the Ombudsman noted. She asked the Council to make improvements to its own complaints procedure and to pay £250 to Mrs Talbot (plus some expenses that arose in connection with the Council’s complaints process) for her time and trouble. The Council has agreed to these recommendations.

Date Updated: 19/02/10