Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (16 002 186)

Category : Adult care services > Charging

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 22 Mar 2017

Summary:  A family complain the council did not give them the option to choose a care home which did not require a 'top-up fee' when it arranged their relative's care.

The complaint

The family complains Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council refused to offer financial assistance towards the top-up fees for the relative's residential care.

Finding

The Ombudsman upheld the complaint and found fault causing injustice.

Recommendations

To remedy the injustice caused, the council should:

  • apologise to the family
  • refund the top-up fees paid to date (£4,628)
  • review its procedures; and
  • review cases managed within the Trust’s mental health services to see if there are others similarly affected.

Further report

We are issuing this further report because the Council has not complied with the recommendations in our 22 March 2017 investigation report. The recommendations were to remedy injustice caused by fault. We gave the Council three months to respond to the report and to show it had complied with our recommendations. It has refused to comply fully and so this report highlights our concerns about the Council’s failure to comply and calls upon the Council to do so now.

Recommendations

To remedy the injustice and prevent recurrence, the Council should ensure full compliance with the recommendations set out in the investigation report of 22 March 2017 and provide evidence of this without delay.

Ombudsman satisfied with Council's response: 26 February 2021

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