Staffordshire County Council (21 007 739)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Charging 22-Nov-2021

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the delay in discharging Mr Z from a care home. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion and investigate.

North Yorkshire County Council (20 012 537)

Statement Not upheld Charging 22-Nov-2021

Summary: There is no fault by the Council. The assessment of the complainant’s contribution to care fees took much longer than usual. But this was not due to any fault by the Council. The Council completed a safeguarding investigation based on the information it had. Again, this was not fault by it.

West Sussex County Council (21 001 427)

Statement Upheld Charging 19-Nov-2021

Summary: Mrs X, on behalf of her mother Mrs Y, complained about the delay in setting up a deferred payment arrangement and the Council’s failure to make payments to the care home as agreed. The Council gave unclear information about when it would progress the application for the deferred payment arrangement, failed to pay the care home as agreed, delayed in responding to Mrs X’s complaint and failed to review the payment issues within the timescale stated. A suitable remedy for the injustice caused by these faults is agreed.

Norfolk County Council (21 009 924)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Charging 18-Nov-2021

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a dispute regarding the care the complainant’s father received and the Council seeking payment of an outstanding balance. That is because the complaint is late and there are not enough good reasons for us to investigate it now.

Blackpool Borough Council (21 008 751)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Charging 17-Nov-2021

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the domiciliary care the complainant’s husband received. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. It is unlikely we could add anything to the response the complainant has already received.

Diva Care Limited (20 013 252)

Statement Not upheld Charging 17-Nov-2021

Summary: the care provider acted in accordance with the contract terms and its actions did not cause injustice to Mrs A.

City of York Council (20 014 180)

Statement Upheld Charging 17-Nov-2021

Summary: The Council accepted it was at fault for not reviewing Mr Y’s care and support plan earlier given that his support services stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will apologise, refund the contributions Mr Y paid to the cost of his care in that period and waive the invoices that remain outstanding. It will also pay Mr X £200 for his time and trouble pursuing the matter on Mr X’s behalf.

Derbyshire County Council (21 001 367)

Statement Upheld Charging 16-Nov-2021

Summary: Mr and Mrs X complained the Council was charging them a top up for care home fees which they never agreed to and could not afford. The Council was at fault. It failed to discuss or agree the top up arrangement when the care home placement became permanent and failed to review the placement when Mr and Mrs X said they could not afford to pay. The Council has agreed to pay the top ups, apologise to Mr and Mrs X and pay them £150 to acknowledge the distress this caused. It has also agreed to provide evidence it has carried out service improvements to prevent a recurrence of the faults.

London Borough of Hillingdon (21 008 368)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Charging 16-Nov-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about disputed charges for his father-in-law’s domiciliary care package. This is because the Council has already provided a suitable remedy and there is nothing further we would add to this. We will not investigate the issues Mr X raised following the Council’s final response to his complaint because they have not yet been considered via the Council’s complaints procedure.

North East Lincolnshire Council (20 013 697)

Statement Upheld Charging 15-Nov-2021

Summary: Mrs B complained about the Council’s assessment of her needs, consideration of her disability related expenditure and issuing an invoice for backdated charges. The Council’s assessment of Mrs B’s needs and decision to issue a backdated invoice was not affected by fault. The Council considered the majority of Mrs B’s disability related expenditure properly but did not properly consider her request for additional petrol and laundry costs. An apology to Mrs B and arrangement for a further appeal panel to consider those two issues is satisfactory remedy.