Summary: Ms C complains the Council failed to provide services to meet her family’s needs. The Council is at fault for failing to record actions and complete a carer’s assessment. This has caused uncertainty and frustration to Ms C. To put things right the Council will apologise to Ms C, make her a symbolic payment, reassess her needs as a carer and make service improvements.

The complaint

1. Ms C complains the Council failed to:
1. properly assess her son’s, Mr D’s needs and take into consideration anomalies Ms C has raised;
2. provide services to meet Mr D’s needs;
3. properly financially assess Mr D, and ensure he can meet the costs of his care;
4. properly assess Ms C for support as a carer;
5. provide respite services for Ms C so she can have a break.
2. Because of these failures Ms C says she has not had the support she has needed and both she and her son have faced financial difficulties because of extra care costs.

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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 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)
4. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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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What I have and have not investigated

6. I have not investigated complaints (a) to (c). This is because they are primarily concerned with the way in which the Council considered a reduction in Mr D’s personal budget which meant he had to pay for his transport costs to a day centre he attended. As these matters were dealt with in complaint reference 25003836 I have not reconsidered them in this complaint.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Ms C and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Ms C 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 should have happened

9. Where somebody provides or intends to provide care for another adult and it appears the carer may have any needs for support, the council must carry out a carer’s assessment. A carer’s assessment must seek to find out not only the carer’s needs for support, but also the sustainability of the caring role itself. This includes the practical and emotional support the carer provides to the adult.
10. Paragraph 6.19 Care and Support Statutory Guidance says “The carer’s assessment must also consider the outcomes that the carer wants to achieve in their daily life, their activities beyond their caring responsibilities, and the impact of caring upon those activities…..
11. 6.20 An adult with possible care and support needs or a carer may choose to refuse to have an assessment. The person may choose not to have an assessment because they do not feel that they need care or they may not want local authority support. In such circumstances local authorities are not required to carry out an assessment……
12. 6.29 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. Local authorities should inform the individual of an indicative timescale over which their assessment will be conducted and keep the person informed throughout the assessment process.”

What happened

13. Ms C is the main carer for her son, Mr D. On 15 February 2023 Ms C asked the Council for respite care. The Council placed Mr D on a waiting list for a review to consider respite care as part of his support package. At the time, Ms C contacted the Council and it says it gave Ms C the contact details for Carers Support West Sussex for a self-referral for a Carers Assessment. It has however provided no evidence of this.
14. In July, the Council considered the waiting list to see if Mr D’s prioritisation had changed. It decided that it had not, and Mr D remained on the waiting list. On 1 September the Council’s duty team were tasked with gathering information about Mr D’s current situation and the risks to his carer.
15. The Council assigned Mr D a social worker to complete a review on 31 October because of changes to contracting for his day support. The review took place on 6 November. There is no evidence of a carer’s assessment. The review notes say,
16. Mr D “has a caring and supportive family (mother and brothers), who are willing and able to continue to support with his needs for the foreseeable future.”
17. A further question asks,

“Have we offered a Carer’s Assessment to any unpaid carer(s) you have?

Yes – carer assessed separately from the cared-for person”.

18. An officer records they would send carer support information.
19. The Council in its response to our enquiries says at the time of the review it outsourced carer’s assessments; and it appears Ms C may not have contacted the carer’s support service for an assessment. The Council also says there was no request or need for respite care because any changes would trigger Mr D’s anxiety. Ms C says she never received a carer’s assessment.

Was there fault causing injustice?

20. It took the Council nearly nine months to consider Ms C’s needs as a carer. The Care and Support Statutory Guidance says people should be given an indicative time of when they will be assessed and it must be in an appropriate and reasonable time. While Ms C was updated after the six month point I do not consider the Council acted in a reasonable time nor did it properly keep Ms C updated. This caused Ms C frustration and she has the uncertainty the Council would have provided her with services during that time.
21. It is unclear from the information provided by the Council whether:-
• Ms C was offered a carer’s assessment but refused to accept one;
• the Council referred Ms C for a carer’s assessment to an outsourced department but for some reason this was not completed, or it was but the Council does not have a copy;
• the Council asked Ms C to contact a third party but she failed to do so;
• the Council took no action in completing a carer’s assessment or referring Ms C for a carer’s assessment.
22. The failure of the Council to properly record its actions is fault. This has caused uncertainty about what actions it took, and Ms C’s responses.
23. On balance based on the information I have seen from the Council and Ms C, I consider the Council did not offer Ms C a carer’s assessment. Ms C therefore has the uncertainty she may have missed out on services because of the Council’s failure to assess her as a carer.

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Action

24. I have found fault causing injustice. I consider the Council should take the following actions to remedy the personal injustice caused and to improve future services.
25. Within one month of the final decision the Council has agreed to:-
1. apologise to Ms C for delays, and not completing a carer’s assessment;
2. pay Ms C £150 symbolic payment in recognition of the uncertainty and frustration the Council’s failures caused her;
3. complete a carer’s assessment for Ms C. Once the assessment is completed decide whether Ms C should receive a further symbolic payment in recognition of services or carer’s grants she missed out on;
26. Within three months of the final decision the Council has agreed to:-
1. review the assessment delays in this complaint and what action the Council will take to reduce future delays;
2. remind relevant staff by staff circular, team meeting or other method about the importance of properly recording what action has been taken including where a person has refused an assessment.
27. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

28. I find fault causing injustice. I have now ended my investigation and closed the complaint on the basis of the agreed action above.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman