Summary: The Council failed to advise Mrs Q about changes to her mother’s care plan. The Council also failed to keep accurate and timely records of the care provided to Mrs Q’s mother. The Ombudsman has made recommendations for action the Council should take to prevent the same fault recurring in future.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I have called Mrs Q, complained about the actions of Norfolk County Council. She said the Council did a review of her mother’s care without her being present, and then reduced the care package without her knowledge.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information Mrs Q provided. I considered the information the Council provided which includes its responses to Mrs Q’s complaints.
4. Mrs Q and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

What happened

5. Mrs Q’s mother, Mrs D, was elderly and frail. Mrs Q held Power of Attorney for her and was her named representative.
6. Mrs D received three home visits each day. She had hot meals delivered during the week, but this service was not available over the weekend. So she needed support to reheat meals at the weekend.
7. In August 2019 the Council reviewed Mrs D’s care package. It did not invite Mrs Q to the review but, by chance, her daughter was there. The Council decided Mrs D only needed one visit each day in the morning, but it did not discuss this with Mrs Q. The following weekend Mrs Q discovered Mrs D was receiving only one visit a day. She provided the missing care herself. Following Mrs Q’s contact, the Council reinstated Mrs D’s visits.
8. Mrs Q complained to the Council. She said Mrs D was mentally and physically frail and she did not understand what she had agreed to. Nor did her daughter understand the significance of the review visit or what had been agreed. She also said the care notes – which she saw every morning – did not mention the reduction in care. In addition, the notes said Mrs D had asked the Social Worker to speak to Mrs Q about the review but she did not do so.
9. The Council said there were no concerns about Mrs D’s mental capacity to understand and make decisions about her care. It said it cancelled the lunchtime and evening visits with Mrs D’s agreement. However, the Council apologised for the Social Worker’s failure to call Mrs Q to discuss the reduction in care as well as for the distress this caused. And it apologised because its recording on Mrs D’s records was not as accurate or timely as it should have been.
10. Mrs Q remains unhappy with the Council’s response.

Analysis

11. The Council reduced Mrs D’s care without first discussing it with Mrs Q. It accepts it should have spoken to Mrs Q and has apologised for this. It has also apologised for its failure to update Mrs D’s records promptly.
12. The Council has accepted it got things wrong and has apologised. However,
    Mrs Q is unhappy that the Council has not said how it intends to prevent similar fault recurring in future. I have made recommendations for action the Council should take.

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Reccomended action

13. The Council should take the following action to prevent the same fault recurring in future:
• Remind relevant staff to ensure adults receiving care are given the opportunity to access appropriate support (e.g.family members or advocate) when making decisions about their care.
• Remind staff of the need to be clear about the nature of any meeting with adults in care or their representatives.
• Remind staff to liaise with relatives where this is recorded on any care plan or other relevant document even where the adult receiving care has capacity to make decisions about the care they are receiving.
• Review record keeping on Mrs X’s mother’s care records and produce an action plan setting out what improvements can be made and what training will be made available to relevant staff.
14. The Council should take this action within three months of my final decision and provide evidence that it has done so.

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Final decision

15. I have completed my investigation as I have fault which may lead to an injustice arising in future. The action I have recommended provides a suitable remedy for this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman