Summary: The Ombudsman has not identified any fault by the Council for requiring a needs assessment for Mrs H’s mother. Further, Mrs H has complained about failings in her contact with the Council, including during the complaints process. The Council has apologised to Mrs H for these failings and so there was fault. However, the Ombudsman does not consider Mrs H has suffered a significant and personal injustice by reason of the fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mrs H, is making the complaint for her late mother. Mrs H’s complaint is that her request to the Council for specialist equipment to aid her mother who was in frail health was not dealt with adequately. Mrs H says this meant she bought the equipment herself.
2. In addition, Mrs H complains about faults by the Council during the complaints process. This includes delays in receiving a response from the Council and that a Council officer was unprofessional over the telephone.
3. As a desired outcome, Mrs H wants the Council to issue a formal apology.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word 'fault' to refer to these. 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

5. I have reviewed Mrs H’s complaint to the Ombudsman and Council, including her supporting documents. I have also had regard to the responses of the Council. Both the Council and Mrs H received an opportunity to comment on a draft of my decision before reaching a final view.

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What I found

Background

6. Some people need extra care or support, practical or emotional, to lead an active life. The need for social care may arise when a person becomes frailer with age as one example. A care and support plan is a detailed document setting out what services will be provided by the local authority. It also explains how it will meet the person’s needs, when they will be provided, and who will provide them. A care and support plan should be reviewed regularly by the local authority
7. In circumstances where an adult may have needs for care and support, Section 9 of the Care 2014 places a duty on local authorities to conduct a needs assessment. This is to determine whether the adult does have needs for care and support and if the adult does, what those needs are. Once a needs assessment has been completed, the Care and Support (Eligibility Criteria) Regulations 2014 is used to identify the level of needs which must be met by a local authority. Where a local authority has determined a person has eligible needs, it has a legal duty to meet these needs, subject to meeting the financial criteria.

Chronology of events

8. In 2015, the Council provided Mrs H’s mother with specialist equipment to assist her in her daily life following it completing a needs assessment.
9. In March 2020, Mrs H telephoned the Council to request an additional piece of equipment to support her mother. However, the Council said it would need to conduct a further needs assessment for Mrs H’s mother before providing the equipment. Also, the Council told Mrs H it could take up to 20 days before a needs assessment was conducted and the equipment delivered. However, due to the length of time involved, Mrs H’s husband purchased the equipment himself.
10. Some days later, the Council contacted Mrs H to follow up on completing a needs assessment. During a number of calls, Mrs H says Council officers repeatedly called her the wrong name. Further, in one instance, Mrs H says a Council officer was unprofessional and terminated a call with her. Mrs H then made a formal complaint to the Council.
11. In May 2020, the Council responded to Mrs H to acknowledge and apologise for calling her a different name. Further, the Council accepted its officer terminated the particular call Mrs H references. However, it said the intention of the officer was not to be rude or uncooperative and that the call was terminated due to the conversation not moving toward a resolution.
12. In August 2020, the Council wrote to Mrs H to also apologise for delays in responding to her complaint. It said this was due to administrative errors within its complaints response system and is not the level of service it aims to provide.

My findings

Needs assessment

13. The Council is under a legal duty to conduct a needs assessment in circumstances where an adult may have needs for care and support. This is to ensure that any equipment supplied is suitable for the needs of the person receiving it. A needs assessment can also be a helpful exercise to identify any other areas of support, even if these have not been specifically requested.
14. I do appreciate that Mrs H feels this was not necessary considering her mother had an assessment in 2015, but needs and support are subject to change over time. In my view, the Council were right to require a needs assessment so to be compliant with its legal duties. Though therefore I do appreciate Mrs H was dissatisfied, I cannot find fault with the actions taken by the Council.

Problems during the complaints process

15. Normally, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures. However, the Council has accepted faults in its dealings with Mrs H about delays in responding to her and for addressing her mistakenly. I have therefore identified some minor fault by the Council.
16. That said, I must in each case assess whether the complainant has suffered a significant and personal injustice. This means I must decide whether Mrs H has suffered serious loss, harm or distress because of the faults by the Council. In my view, the level of injustice suffered by Mrs H with respect to her contact with the Council does not warrant a remedy beyond an apology.
17. I note the Council has already apologised to Mrs H and so I do not consider I can add to the outcome she has already achieved.

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Final decision

18. I am not upholding this complaint. This is because I have not identified any fault by the Council for requiring a needs assessment for Mrs H’s mother. Though there were minor faults by the Council in its contact and communications, I do not consider Mrs H has suffered an injustice by reason of them.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman