Assessment and care plan

Luton Borough Council (18 015 693)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 03-Sep-2019

Summary: The Council did not properly consider all the relevant facts, and follow statutory guidance, before deciding that Mrs X's mother had deliberately deprived herself of capital assets in order to avoid, or reduce, her contribution to residential care charges. The Council has now reviewed the evidence, decided not to apply the notional capital rules and sent Mrs X new financial assessments. It has apologised to Mrs X and provided a financial remedy to recognise her time and trouble in pursuing the complaint.

Kingston upon Hull City Council (18 017 502)

Statement Not upheld Assessment and care plan 03-Sep-2019

Summary: Mrs X complains about the Council's failure to arrange a permanent residential placement for her adult son and the emergency placement it organised was unsuitable. The Ombudsman has found no evidence of fault in the way the Council considered these matters.

Devon County Council (18 012 288)

Statement Not upheld Assessment and care plan 30-Aug-2019

Summary: The complainant says the Council failed to give her husband financial support towards his residential care when it should have done, did not provide her with appropriate advice and should have challenged her decision to self-fund his residential care. The Ombudsman has not found evidence of fault by the Council and for this reason he has ended his consideration of this complaint.

Norfolk County Council (18 015 338)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 29-Aug-2019

Summary: Ms X complains that the Council did not assess Ms Y's needs properly and significantly reduced her support without reason. She says Ms Y was distraught about this. The Ombudsman finds the Council was at fault causing Ms Y significant distress, time and trouble. It has agreed to pay Ms Y £1200, reinstate her support hours and complete a fresh assessment. It will also take action to prevent similar problems in future.

Essex County Council (18 018 980)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 28-Aug-2019

Summary: The Council was wrong to disallow a mortgage payment Ms X makes when it carried out the financial assessment for non-residential care services. The Council has now agreed to provide a suitable remedy so we have ended our investigation.

Cheshire West & Chester Council (18 014 975)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 27-Aug-2019

Summary: Ms D complains about the way in which the Council dealt with her sister's request for adaptations, in particular the time it has taken to agree to carry out an extension to her property and put this in place. The Ombudsman found there was a delay by the Council in allocating Ms X's case to an Occupational Therapist (OT) and carrying out the assessment visit. The Council has agreed to apologise to Ms X. It has also recently implemented changes to speed up the OT allocation and assessment process.

Hertfordshire County Council (18 016 276)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 27-Aug-2019

Summary: Ms C complains about the Council's decision that her elderly mother should move from the care home where she was settled, into Flexicare Housing. The Ombudsman has decided to uphold Ms C's complaint. The Council has agreed to provide an apology to Ms C and pay a financial remedy for the distress she experienced.

Somerset County Council (19 001 363)

Statement Not upheld Assessment and care plan 23-Aug-2019

Summary: Mr X complains the Council acted with fault in withdrawing the social care hours he received each week while in dispute with his family, causing him to have to fund his own care, which he cannot afford to do. The Council acted properly in carrying out an assessment of Mr X's care needs, so the Ombudsman cannot substitute another view. It was entitled to withdraw care.

Cheshire West & Chester Council (18 010 441)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 22-Aug-2019

Summary: There is evidence of fault in this complaint. The Council stopped Miss Y's direct payment because it wrongly believed direct payments could not be spent on social/community activities, which in this case were identified as an eligible need. It also failed to adequately explain its decision to stop the direct payments. The Council then failed to consider the cost of the activities as DRE.

Hertfordshire County Council (17 015 382)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 21-Aug-2019

Summary: Mrs Y complains about the Council's and Trust's actions when providing care and support for her adult daughter Miss X. There was fault by the Council and the Trust in the way it assessed Miss X and this has caused some uncertainty about her care planning. I recommend a re-assessment with a specialist autism assessor to remedy the injustice. I also found fault with the delayed complaints handling by both bodies and their failure to consider a 'joint response' which caused injustice to Mrs Y. I have made recommendations to remedy the injustice.