Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s delay in reviewing Mr X’s care needs because the Council has agreed a suitable remedy for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has delayed considering his request for an increase in care support hours since April 2023 and been poor in its communications. He says he has incurred costs funding extra care himself and suffered distress.

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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’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. We would expect a council to review a person’s care needs before making changes to their provision.
6. Mr X says he first asked the Council to increase his support hours in April 2023 but it took no action.
7. In July the Council apologised to Mr X for its poor communication and agreed to review his care needs.
8. In September the Council apologised to Mr X for delays and further lack of communication. It offered Mr X £300 for time and trouble.
9. When I spoke to Mr X in October he said the Council had still not reviewed his care needs. The Council said it had started the review but it was not yet complete.
10. If we investigated this complaint it is likely we would find the Council at fault because it agreed to review Mr X’s care needs in July yet has still not done so and it has accepted a poor level of communication in its complaint responses.
11. We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by its actions by carrying out the following actions within one month of this decision:
• Provide Mr X with a further written apology;
• Pay Mr X £300 for distress and uncertainty;
• Complete a review of Mr X’s care needs, including consideration of his request for an increase in support hours and;
• If the Council agrees to further support hours following the review, it should consider a further payment to Mr X, taking into account the expenses he has incurred on care to date and the financial burden this has placed on him.

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Agreed action

12. To its credit the Council agreed to resolve the complaint and will complete the actions at paragraph 11 to put things right.

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Final decision

13. We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman