Suffolk County Council (16 009 086)
Summary
Mrs X complains about the care agency the Council commissioned to provide her with domiciliary care. She says it failed to make the provision it charged for between June and October 2016.
The complaint
Mrs X and her daughter Mrs Y complained the care workers cut short the care visits. The Council billed her for the hours that were detailed in the care plan rather than the number of hours actually provided, even after Mrs Y reported the shorter visits.
Finding
The Ombudsman upheld the complaint and found fault causing injustice.
Recommendations
To remedy the injustice caused the Council should:
- apologise for its failure to consider reviewing Mrs X’s care and support plan under the Care Act 2014 when Mrs Y reported the carers were not staying for the period of time allowed for in the care plan and the care agency stated its carers were completing the tasks more quickly;
- provide us with evidence about the steps it has taken to ensure that there is a proper record to show service users are informed at the outset about any minimum visit time for which they will be charged, even if the care required is provided more quickly; and that if they pay the full cost that there may be greater flexibility if they make arrangements direct with a private agency;
- review the daily records from August 2016 to see whether the records indicate the carer regularly provided less care than the care plan detailed. If the Council does find evidence of reduced provision time for this period it should consider reducing Mrs X’s bill for this period as she was not being charged for a job but for hours of care. It should ensure that Ms X is only charged for the hours of care she received;
- apologise for its failure to properly investigate her allegations about the short visits from mid-August; and
- pay Mrs X £250 to recognise the avoidable time and trouble she was caused in having to complain to us in order to have the matter resolved.
Ombudsman satisfied with Council's response: 26 February 2018.