Summary: Ms X complained the Council did not arrange suitable care for Mr Y after his hospital discharge and communicated poorly. She says this negatively impacted Mr Y’s recovery. We find no fault with the care arranged by the Council. We find fault with the Council’s communication which caused injustice. We are satisfied the Council’s actions have remedied the injustice to Mr Y and Ms X.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s handling of Mr Y’s discharge from hospital. Specifically, she complains the Council:

1. Did not arrange suitable care and support; and
2. Communicated poorly.

2. Ms X says this meant Mr Y did not receive suitable support which has impacted his recovery and physical health.

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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. 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(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

What should have happened

7. Sections 9 and 10 of the Care Act 2014 require councils to carry out an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support. They must provide an assessment to everyone regardless of their finances or whether the council thinks the person has eligible needs. The assessment must be of the adult’s needs and how they impact on their wellbeing and the results they want to achieve. It must also involve the individual and where suitable their carer or any other person they might want involved.
8. An adult with possible care and support needs or a carer may choose to refuse an assessment. In these circumstances councils do not have to carry out an assessment. Where a council identifies that an adult lacks mental capacity and that carrying out a needs assessment would be in the adult’s best interests, it must do so.

What happened

9. Mr Y had a medical condition which caused ongoing symptoms. He was discharged from hospital to an NHS rehabilitation centre to support his recovery. He had capacity to make decisions about his care.
10. In March 2025, the rehabilitation centre made a referral to the Council. It told the Council Mr Y’s home needed adaptions to make it accessible. It also told the Council due to his risk of falls Mr Y would require care support with daily tasks.
11. In early May, the Council attended a meeting with rehabilitation centre staff and Mr Y and Ms X to discuss Mr Y’s progress and discharge planning options. The Council told Mr Y he would be discharged to a reablement flat for six weeks.
12. Four days before the moving date, the Council told Mr Y the reablement flat was no longer an option. It did not arrange an alternative option. The rehabilitation centre extended Mr Y’s placement for a further six weeks.
13. During this time, Ms X and Mr Y contacted the Council multiple times for an update. There was some communication between Mr Y and the Council. The communication did not clarify discharge options.
14. Mr X contacted another department in the Council. It decided to make the required adaptions to Mr Y’s home under its new urgent home adaptation scheme.
15. In June, the Council completed a care assessment. It decided it would fund a short-term placement at a care home offering 24-hour support for Mr Y whilst the building works at his home were completed.
16. In late June, Mr Y moved to the short-term care home placement.
17. In July, Mr Y moved back to his house whilst the building works were ongoing. The care home told the Council Mr Y had discharged himself. The same day, the Council contacted Mr Y to arrange a care and support assessment. Mr Y declined the assessment. He told the Council he did not want care support. He told the Council he would like an alarm pendant in case he had a fall at home. The Council made a referral for the alarm pendant. The Council told Mr Y if he changed his mind and would like an assessment he should call adult social care.

Analysis

Care and support (part a of the complaint)

18. Ms X complains the Council removed the opportunity for Mr Y to be discharged to a reablement flat. In its complaints response the Council explained why Mr Y did not meet the criteria. If Mr Y had met the criteria for the reablement flat, it would have provided him with six weeks of accommodation only. Mr Y continued to reside at the rehabilitation centre once the reablement flat option was withdrawn. I find no fault in the Council’s decision-making to withdraw the offer. I have addressed the Council’s communication of its decision in the section below.
19. Ms X complains the intensity of the support in the care home placement arranged by the Council following Mr Y’s discharge from the NHS rehabilitation centre was greater than he needed and was therefore unsuitable and impacted his recovery. The Council accepted Mr Y did not require the level of intense support offered in the care home, however it was a short-term placement to provide Mr Y with accommodation and care support whilst building works were being completed at his home. I find no fault.
20. Once Mr Y self-discharged from the care home, the Council acted quickly to organise a care assessment. Mr Y declined this assessment. The Council told Mr Y how to arrange a care assessment in future if he changed his mind. The Council provided the support Mr Y did request without delay. I find no fault.

Communication (part b of the complaint)

21. The Council accepts it did not provide timely updates and did not provide suitable clarity for the change in Mr Y’s discharge options. It also provided Mr Y and Ms X with contradictory information because its staff did not have relevant knowledge of the Council’s new urgent home adaption process. This poor communication was fault and caused Ms X and Mr Y unnecessary and avoidable uncertainty.
22. The Council apologised to Ms X and Mr Y for the distress caused by its poor communication regarding Mr Y’s discharge from the rehabilitation centre. I am satisfied this apology meets our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice and so I consider a further apology is not appropriate.
23. The Council reviewed Mr Y’s case and identified several areas for service improvement including its communication with families regarding discharge planning and training its staff in the urgent home adaptions referral process. The Council has ensured its relevant staff now have suitable understanding of the urgent home adaptions available to people being discharged from hospital, and the referral process. It has also created a new leaflet it provides to people and their families in hospital about the discharge planning process and taken steps to improve its communication. I am satisfied these actions taken by the Council are suitable and remedy the injustice caused.

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Decision

24. I find fault causing injustice. The Council’s actions have remedied the injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman