Summary: The investigation into this complaint is discontinued. The Council acknowledged fault in the way it dealt with requests for social care support for Mr Y, apologised and took steps to remedy the situation before the complaint came to this office. Any further investigation by this office could not achieve more.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council’s adult social care department failed to respond to the needs of her adult son, Mr Y.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the written complaint submitted by Ms X together with the Council’s complaint response, and information it submitted to our assessment team.

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What I found

5. Mr Y is in his early twenties and has a learning disability. Ms X receives direct payments from the Council to purchase services.
6. A newly installed front door to the family home was insecure. In early December 2021 Mr Y absconded from home on 11 occasions running off down the street, on two occasions he was out of Ms X’s sight, placing him at risk of harm.
7. Ms X contacted the police for assistance. Due to Mr Y’s disability the police were limited in the action they could take. The police made numerous referrals to social services, which Ms X says were not responded to, consequently she was left to cope alone. On occasions she slept on the hallway floor, and the lounge sofa. She was unable to get dressed or take a shower and became exhausted.
8. Ms X says Mr Y’s travel arrangements to and from college were cancelled because of an incident during a journey home. This resulted in Ms X losing a work opportunity as she had to escort Mr Y to and from college.
9. Ms X says Mr Y is not attending respite and she feels ignored. She would like social services to arrange a ‘night-time service’ and allocate a point of contact.
10. Ms X submitted a formal complaint to the Council. The council responded in writing on 25 January 2022. I have had sight of the letter. The author, a manager, upheld some points of the complaint. She acknowledged communication with Ms X could have been better, and that the service failed to respond to her on some occasions. She said additional support for Mr Y had been agreed but Ms X had been unable to source an appropriate carer. She also acknowledged social services failed to contact Ms X after she notified it she was having difficulty sourcing additional care.
11. The manager went on to acknowledge a delay in arranging respite for Mr Y. She said the ongoing impact of COVID-19 “…had affected placement availability at short notice, availability of providers and carers, and staffing levels within the LDT [Learning Disability Team] I also acknowledge that better communication from the LDT would have been beneficial, specifically – ensuring you knew that [respite care] was a Supported Accommodation setting and that you would need to organise [Mr Y’s] provisions, and also that you felt able to source a carer via your direct payment once those hours were increased. I apologise that these steps were not taken and that this negatively impacted upon both of you…I acknowledge that your experiences with the LDT between December 2021 and January 2022 have not been positive for you and wish to reassure you that I not only hear your concerns but am determined to act upon them in order to improve the service”. The manager set out the action she had taken:

• “I will be looking at ways in which we can improve our Duty system to ensure more continuity for individuals who contact the service.
• I have ensured that [Mr Y] has now been given a named worker, which regrettably could not happen sooner due to staffing levels within the team.
• Your experience has highlighted that the LDT need to consider contingency plans in future as a matter of course during care planning, and I shall be discussing this at the next team meeting, alongside the need for better recording and communication”.

Analysis

12. I can see the situation Ms X and Mr Y found themselves in must have been distressing and stressful.
13. The Council acknowledged its failings and apologised to Ms X before the complaint came to this office. It set out the action it took to improve matters and prevent a recurrence. Any further investigation by this office could not achieve more.
14. However, to ensure completeness I have asked to the Council to provide this office with an update on the respite arrangements for Mr Y.

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Final decision

15. The investigation will be discontinued. The Council acknowledged fault in the way it dealt with requests for social care support for Mr Y, apologised and took steps to remedy the situation before the complaint came to this office. Any further investigation by this office could not achieve more.
16. It is on this basis that the complaint will be closed.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman