Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (23 010 189a)

Statement Not upheld Hospital acute services 22-Feb-2024

Summary: Mr A complained about the way a Council and two NHS Trusts arranged for his mother to move into a care home following a short admission in hospital. We have not found fault with the decision to offer a respite placement. Further, we have not found fault with the Council’s actions when the respite period came to an end. However, we have found fault that a care home, acting on behalf of the Council, destroyed records too early. This caused frustration and will leave uncertainty. The Council agreed to provide an apology and to take steps to help prevent recurrences.

Devon Partnership NHS Trust (23 010 189b)

Statement Not upheld Hospital acute services 22-Feb-2024

Summary: Mr A complained about the way a Council and two NHS Trusts arranged for his mother to move into a care home following a short admission in hospital. We have not found fault with the decision to offer a respite placement. Further, we have not found fault with the Council’s actions when the respite period came to an end. However, we have found fault that a care home, acting on behalf of the Council, destroyed records too early. This caused frustration and will leave uncertainty. The Council agreed to provide an apology and to take steps to help prevent recurrences.

Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust (23 010 942a)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Hospital acute services 23-Jan-2024

Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about treatment and care provided to his late brother, Mr C, by the Trust and the Council. This is because it is unlikely an investigation would find fault.

University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust - Bristol Royal Infirmary (23 009 326a)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Hospital acute services 18-Jan-2024

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about the way her mother, Mrs C, was discharged from a rehabilitation unit, and about her admission to and the discharge from hospital. This is because we would be unlikely to add to the responses Mrs B has already received from the organisations.

Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (22 010 973a)

Statement Not upheld Hospital acute services 20-Dec-2023

Summary: We uphold Mr X’s complaint about the way his grandmother’s discharge was handled. We have found the Council failed to properly consider the option of Mrs Y returning home with 24-hour care in place. As a result, Mrs Y and Mr X were caused unnecessary frustration, uncertainty and distress. The Council will apologise, reviews its processes and pay a total of £500.

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (23 001 469a)

Statement Not upheld Hospital acute services 15-Dec-2023

Summary: Mrs A complains about a Council and Trust in relation to her sister, Mrs B’s discharge from hospital and her subsequent care at home. The Ombudsmen did not find fault with the discharge, or the care provided. However, they did find fault with the Council charging Mrs B for her care and the Council has agreed to cancel its bill for care.

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust (22 016 851a)

Statement Upheld Hospital acute services 04-Dec-2023

Summary: We found fault in the process a Trust followed before discharging an elderly woman from hospital to her own home. While it carried out proportionate assessments of her needs it did not hold adequate discussions with the patient and her family about how those needs would be met. This caused avoidable frustration and has left uncertainty, for which the Trust has agreed to apologise. We have not found fault in the way the Council checked the woman’s support package in the days following her return home. We found the Council was at fault for failing to respond to a complaint within the agreed timeframe. However, we have not been able to link this to a specific injustice.

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (22 017 313a)

Statement Not upheld Hospital acute services 28-Nov-2023

Summary: We investigated a complaint about the care provided to Mrs F. We found fault with the Nursing Home who did not keep accurate records. This caused confusion to Miss E about whether she could have avoided infection. We recommended an apology and service improvements, but the Nursing Home has closed and we cannot enforce compliance with our recommendations. We found no fault with the Council or the Trust.

North Staffordshire Combined Health Care NHS Trust (22 014 341c)

Statement Upheld Hospital acute services 03-Nov-2023

Summary: Mrs B complained about the failure of the Council, the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and two NHS Trusts to assess her needs properly and provide her with the care and support she was entitled to when she left hospital. We found fault in the way the Hospital Trust planned Mrs B’s discharge from hospital. The NHS Trust working on behalf of the Council did not share an assessment with Mrs B. The Council and the ICB did not meet their joint statutory duties to provide aftercare to Mrs B for about three months. The faults had adverse impact on Mrs B’s physical and mental wellbeing and her ability to maintain her dignity. The organisations have agreed to our recommendation and will apologise to Mrs B, make an acknowledgement payment, and improve their processes relating to arranging and providing aftercare.

NHS East London NHS Foundation Trust (21 018 989b)

Statement Not upheld Hospital acute services 24-Sep-2023

Summary: Mrs O complained about arrangements for her late mother’s discharge from hospital to a care home during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said her mother was too unwell to be discharged and should have stayed in hospital. Mrs O also complained about her mother’s care at the care home. Mrs W’s health deteriorated within a few days of leaving hospital and she died. We did not find evidence of fault by the organisations.