Summary: Mrs X complains the Council has not dealt properly with care for her son. The Council is at fault because there was a delay to direct payments being made. The Council has apologised to Mrs X. This is an appropriate remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complains Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, (on behalf of the Council), has failed to deal properly with care for her son Mr Y because:
• It delayed providing care for Mr Y from Feb 2020 until later in the year;
• The care package outlined in the care plan proposed in June 2020 is not what was agreed at the assessment meeting in May 2020;
• The Council has not taken account of her illness and inability to care for Mr Y;
• It has handled her complaint badly by carrying out an investigation by an employee junior to that being complained about.
2. Mrs X says she has suffered distress and her recovery from serious illness has been compromised.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
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. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I spoke to Mrs X about her complaint and considered documents provided by Mrs X. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its response and the supporting documents it provided.
7. Mrs X 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

8. Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (‘the Trust’) provide Adult Social Care services on behalf of Torbay Council.
9. The services were provided under the Care Act 2014.

What happened?

10. Mr Y was not receiving support immediately prior to January 2020. Mrs X learned she needed surgery and requested support from the Council.
11. The Trust agreed to provide support for Mr Y on the basis of time limited direct payments for an eight week period from February to April 2020.
12. Mr Y was unhappy with assessment of the support he required. The Trust agreed to a telephone re-assessment, which was completed in May. Support was extended to October 2020.
13. Mr Y disagreed with the outcome of the re-assessment, which was finalised in June 2020.
14. Final adjustments were made to Mr Y’s support in June.
15. Mrs X complained that Mr Y had not received the level of support he needed. The Trust acknowledged there had been a delay in making payments but did not uphold the complaint regarding the level of support provided.

Analysis

16. It is clear this complaint has been complicated by events prior to 2020, together with concurrent disagreements regarding pay rates for carers and Mr Y’s non-payment of assessed charges for his care.

Delays

17. Case notes show the direct payments were put in place at the end of March 2020.
18. The time limited direct payments were put in place approximately one month late. The Trust has acknowledged this delay in its complaint response and apologised. This is fault. The apology it has given is an appropriate remedy.

Care Package

19. Mr Y’s assessment in January 2020 states, “During the period of June to December 2017 notations on a family calendar identified that Mrs X provided an average of 15 hours intermittent night time care over this period. I do not have any current evidence to suggest that this has changed.”
20. Case notes show the Council’s initial assessment in January and the re-assessment in May both took into account Mrs X’s situation and her inability to provide care for Mr Y.
21. Case notes show Mrs X raised the issue of night time support for Mr Y in a telephone call in April. This prompted the telephone re-assessment.
22. On the balance of probabilities, the Council took account of Mrs X’s illness and inability to provide care for Mr Y. This is not fault by the Council.
23. Case notes containing a record of the telephone re-assessment in May do not contain any evidence that a higher number of hours support were agreed to.
24. Mrs X says it was agreed verbally at the telephone re-assessment that Mr X required significantly greater support. There are no contemporaneous records to support this.
25. On the balance of probabilities, the Council did not agree a higher level of support at the telephone re-assessment than was contained in the subsequent support plan for Mr Y. This is not fault by the Council.
26. Mrs X does not agree with the outcome of the assessment, but this was a decision the Council was entitled to make.

Complaint handling

27. The Trust’s complaints policy does not specify who should complete investigations except in specific situations.
28. The Trust acknowledged Mrs X’s complaint and write to her stating her complaint would be responded to by the Chief Executive or the Chief Nurse. The Trust’s complaint response to Mrs X was from the Chief Nurse.
29. Case notes show the complaint response from the Chief Nurse was factually based. This is not fault by the Council.
30. Mrs X also says the Council told her it would not put any extra care in place because she had complained. An email from the Council in late July shows the Council’s decision was explained to Mr Y. I have not seen evidence to show there was a connection between Mrs X’s complaint and the assessment of support that Mr Y required. On the balance of probabilities, there was a miscommunication between Mrs X and the Council. This is not fault by the Council.

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Final decision

31. I have found fault by the Council. The Trust has apologised and this is a suitable remedy. I have now completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman