Summary: Mr X complains the Council has not provided any autism support and has handled his complaints poorly, causing distress. The Ombudsman finds the Council delayed completing a care assessment and failed to follow its complaints policy. The Ombudsman recommends the Council provides an apology to Mr X, pays Mr X £300 and takes steps to prevent recurrence of the faults.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has failed to provide any autism support and it has handled his complaints poorly, causing distress. He also says the Council lied about his making threats during a phone call.

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What I have investigated

2. I have investigated Mr X’s complaint from June 2018. At the end of this decision I have set out why I have not investigated earlier matters.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
6. We may investigate matters coming to our attention during an investigation, if we consider that a member of the public who has not complained may have suffered an injustice as a result. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26D and 34E, as amended)
7. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I spoke to Mr X and I reviewed documents provided by Mr X and the Council. I gave Mr X and the Council the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Care assessment

9. A council carries out a care needs assessment to decide whether an individual has care needs that it is must meet. If a person has eligible care needs the council will then complete a care and support plan setting out how it will meet those needs.
10. An assessment should be carried out over an appropriate and reasonable timescale taking into account the urgency of needs and a consideration of any fluctuation in those needs. Councils should inform the individual of an indicative timescale over which it will conduct their assessment and keep the person informed throughout.

Council policy on Adult Social Care complaints

11. The Council does not publish its policy online but it has provided me with a copy. This says:
• It will acknowledge a complaint within three working days.
• If the complaint is made orally it will write it down and provide a copy of the written complaint to the complainant.
• It will contact the complainant and agree the best way to deal with the complaint and agree a timescale.
• If there are delays it will inform the complainant.
• All complaints will be completed within six months.
• In its final response it will tell the complainant they can contact the Ombudsman if they remain unhappy.

Minds Matter

12. Minds Matter is an NHS wellbeing service offering a range of free psychological therapies to adults. A person can self-refer to its services online or by phone.

Lancashire Autism Service (“LAS”)

13. The website for this service says it provides a diagnostic and counselling service on behalf of the NHS.

What happened

14. Mr X asked the Council for a care needs assessment on 2 July 2018. The Council warned him there was a long waiting list.
15. Mr X chased the Council in October 2018, explaining he was struggling to access work without support. The Council told Mr X he remained on the waiting list and referred him to an employment support service.
16. On 6 November 2018 Mr X complained to the Council about the waiting time for an assessment. He explained he had anxiety, depression and autism.
17. On 9 November the Council sent Mr X a complaint acknowledgement. It agreed to respond by phone as he wished and signposted him to advocacy services.
18. Mr X chased the Council for an assessment again in December. The Council said it would assess him as soon as possible.
19. Mr X chased again in January and February 2019.
20. Mr X contacted the Council to make a complaint in March. The Council’s records say its officer gave him details about making a complaint but would discuss his need for assessment with a manager first then contact him.
21. Mr X called the Council seeking an update on 15 March.
22. On 26 March Mr X’s GP called the Council to refer Mr X to adult social care. He said Mr X had tried to get support to no avail and he needed day to day support.
23. Mr X called the Council again on 9 April to say he had still not heard back following his call in March.
24. The Council acknowledged receipt of this complaint by letter to Mr X on 10 April.
25. On 12 April the Council contacted Mr X and arranged to carry out a social care assessment on 23 April.
26. Mr X did not attend the assessment. On 29 April the Council contacted him and arranged for it to take place on 9 May.
27. The Council completed the assessment on 9 May. The Council has provided a copy of the care needs assessment. This reports Mr X manages his needs independently and has no eligible care needs. Mr X would like autism specific anxiety support. The Council suggested he ask his GP to refer him to the Lancashire Autism Service.
28. In June 2019 Mr X contacted the Council as he had not heard further since the assessment or received a copy of it. The Council explained a manager would review it and post it to him.
29. On 25 June Mr X complained to the Council it had still not provided any support and he had complained previously to no avail.
30. The Council wrote to Mr X on 4 July providing a copy of his assessment and explaining he was not eligible for services.
31. On 17 July Mr X called the Council as he was unhappy with its decision, he also complained about the actions of the NHS. In further calls Mr X told the Council he felt both the Council and NHS discriminated against those with autism.
32. On the same date the Council responded to Mr X’s complaint of 25 June. It explained following the assessment in May it found he did not meet the criteria for support. It had referred him to employment support services and told him to contact his GP to access LAS.
33. Mr X called the Council again over the following months to complain about the NHS, its refusal to provide him with services and the Council’s failure to investigate his concerns about the NHS. The Council explained Mr X would need to complain through the NHS complaint process. Mr X became increasingly distressed over the course of calls to the Council. During a phone call in September he threatened to harm himself and the Council called the emergency services.
34. Mr X complained to the Council for taking this action. The Council responded to explain it did not mean to cause him distress by seeking medical attention. However, it recognised it miscommunicated its concerns and apologised for this.
35. When I spoke to Mr X he said the Council told the police he had made threats during the phone call and this was not true.

Findings

36. The Council did not speak to Mr X about his complaints, agree the best way to deal with them or agree a timescale for a response. It did not confirm complaints taken by phone in writing to Mr X and it did not acknowledge his complaint of March 2019. Mr X first complained in November 2018 but he did not receive a complaint response until July 2019, more than six months later. The Council failed to deal with any of Mr X’s complaints in line with its policy. This is fault.
37. The Council delayed arranging a care needs assessment from July 2018 to April 2019. This is a significant delay and amounts to fault. The Council says it has a long waiting list for assessments. This suggests others may also be caused injustice by delays.
38. The Council assessed Mr X and found he was not eligible for support from the Council. The assessment shows the Council took into account relevant information in reaching this decision. I acknowledge Mr X disagrees and considers the Council should provide him with support. However, not everyone qualifies for support from the Council. The Council appears to have assessed Mr X properly and I find no fault in its decision making process.
39. I do not have details of the Council’s call to emergency services in September 2019 but the Council accepts there was a miscommunication. I note it has apologised to Mr X for this. I consider the Council was right to call emergency services in the circumstances however, it is clear there was some error in its report. I find this amounts to fault.
40. Mr X has suffered distress and uncertainty due to the Council’s delay in completing an assessment and due to its error in reporting to emergency services. He has also suffered distress and been put to time and trouble in complaining to the Council.

Agreed action

41. To remedy the injustice set out above I recommend the Council carry out the following actions within one month of the date of my decision:
• Provide Mr X with a written apology for faults identified;
• Pay Mr X £100 for time and trouble;
• Pay Mr X £200 for distress and uncertainty;
• Identify the reason(s) for the delay in carrying out care assessments and tell the Ombudsman what action the Council will take to prevent delays in future;
• Take action to ensure staff follow its complaints policy in future and inform the Ombudsman of the action taken;
• Publish a copy of its ASC complaints policy on its website.
42. The Council has accepted my recommendations.

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Final decision

43. I find the Council delayed completing a care assessment and failed to follow its complaints policy. The Council has accepted my recommendations and I have completed my investigation.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

44. I did not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council has failed to provide autism support since 2015. This is because the complaint is late, it is unlikely I will find further significant fault by the Council and, there is no good reason to exercise discretion.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman