Cornwall Council (19 004 581)

Report Upheld Assessment and care plan 03-Dec-2020

Summary: Mrs D complains the Council should not have stopped her Direct Payments in August 2018. Mrs D says the Council should also have allowed her daughter, who lived with her, to remain her paid carer. Mrs D complains the Council failed to put a commissioned homecare service in place to provide her care when it stopped her Direct Payments, and because of this her daughter was forced to continue to provide this care to her as an informal unpaid carer. Mrs D says the Council also failed to support her daughter in her role as her informal carer. Mrs D says this resulted in significant distress to her and her daughter, as well as financial hardship for her daughter. Her daughter could not take up any paid employment opportunities for herself, did not have enough breaks and was therefore unable to maintain her social life, engage with hobbies and interests and have regular time off to relax. Mrs D also complains about the financial assessment the Council carried out in November 2017, which resulted in a decision that she had to pay a contribution towards the cost of her care between November 2017 and December 2018.

London Borough of Ealing (19 019 547)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 03-Dec-2020

Summary: The Ombudsmen do not consider Miss C was eligible for section 117 aftercare after 2005. However, London Borough of Ealing significantly delayed reviewing Miss C’s social care needs after 2017. That fault most likely delayed Miss C’s move to supported accommodation.

Essex County Council (19 018 312)

Statement Not upheld Assessment and care plan 02-Dec-2020

Summary: Mr C complained the Council has failed to provide him with the care and support he needs. We did not find fault with regards to the Council’s actions.

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (19 005 649)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 01-Dec-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about delays by the Council’s Occupational Therapy service and its alleged liability for privately arranged works carried out by the complainant. This is because it is unlikely we could add to the previous investigation by the Council.

Somerset County Council (19 018 920)

Statement Not upheld Assessment and care plan 30-Nov-2020

Summary: Mr B complains that the Council has wrongly refused to fund night-time support. This has increased his anxiety because he worries about having a seizure at night. There is no fault by the Council. It properly considered all the information it had and kept Mr B’s situation under review.

Nottinghamshire County Council (19 013 173)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 27-Nov-2020

Summary: The complainant, Ms B, said the Council was wrong to decide her mother-in-law, Mrs D, deprived herself of assets to avoid paying care fees. Ms B says the actions of the Council has caused Mrs D and the family avoidable distress and worry. The Council was entitled to pursue the debt, but the Ombudsman found fault in the way the Council decided to pursue Mrs D for the debt. the Council has agreed with the Ombudsman’s recommendations and will assess
Mrs D’s capacity to make specific financial decisions, consider her best interests if necessary and decide who is best placed to manage her finances. The Council will also remind its staff of the importance of completing mental capacity assessments when there is doubt about a person’s capacity to make specific decisions.

London Borough of Havering (20 000 090)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 26-Nov-2020

Summary: The Ombudsmen are satisfied a Trust, Council and CCG provided largely appropriate care to an elderly woman with complex care and housing needs. However, the Ombudsmen find fault with the initial support provided by the Council’s housing team. This caused the woman’s son avoidable frustration and distress. The Ombudsmen also find the Council contributed to the woman’s delayed discharge from hospital as it failed to clearly establish her housing needs.

Essex County Council (19 009 128)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Assessment and care plan 25-Nov-2020

Summary: Miss A complains about the actions of the Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust and Essex County Council in relation to her mental health. We have decided that the joint issues of s.117 of the Mental Health Act are outside our time limit and we will not investigate them.

Lancashire County Council (20 003 625)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Assessment and care plan 25-Nov-2020

Summary: We will not investigate Mr L’s complaint about arrangements for his mother’s discharge from hospital in November 2018. The complaint is late and we have not seen sufficient reasons to investigate it now.

City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (20 001 351)

Statement Not upheld Assessment and care plan 24-Nov-2020

Summary: Mr and Mrs X complain the Council refused to revise their adult daughter, Ms Y’s, care and support plan, despite evidence that a reduction in her care and support package had negatively affected her health and wellbeing. The Council was not at fault. It appropriately reviewed Ms Y’s care and support plan and considered all relevant information in its decision making.