Summary: Mr B complained the Council charged his mother, Mrs C, for domiciliary care when it said it would be free. He also complained about the quality of this care. Mr B says Mrs C paid for a service she thought was going to be free and this caused her distress. We found fault with the Council for its delay completing Mrs C’s financial assessment. The Council will pay Mrs C £200 for the injustice caused by its delay.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr B, complained the Council charged his mother, Mrs C, for domiciliary care when it said it would be free. He also complained about the quality of this care.
2. Mr B says Mrs C paid for a service she thought was going to be free and this caused her distress.

Back to top

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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered:
• Mr B’s complaint and the information he provided;
• documents supplied by the Council;
• relevant legislation and guidelines; and
• the Council’s policies and procedures.
6. Mr B and the Council had the opportunity to comment on a draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Legislation and guidance

7. A council has a duty to arrange care and support for those with eligible needs, and a power to meet both eligible and non-eligible needs in settings other than care homes. A council has discretion to charge for non-residential care following a person’s needs assessment. Where it decides to charge a council must follow the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014 and have regard to the Care Act statutory guidance. (Care Act 2014, section 14 and 17)

What happened

8. Mrs C lives in supported accommodation. She has dementia and other health conditions. Mrs C’s son is her main carer. He does not live with her.
9. In June 2021, Mrs C’s doctor referred her to the Council for a social care assessment.
10. The Council visited Mrs C in July 2021 to start a Care Act assessment. Mr B was present at the visit. They explained to the social worker that Mr B cared for Mrs C, but he had other responsibilities and needed help. They asked if the Council could arrange two domiciliary care visits a day, one in the morning and one at teatime.
11. The Council asked Mr B to complete a financial assessment form. The form stated that an individual may need to contribute towards their care services. The social worker noted on the form that she had given Mr B financial assessment factsheets. Mr B ticked to say, Mrs C agreed to pay her maximum assessed contributions. Mr B returned the financial assessment form in July 2021.
12. The Council completed Mrs C’s care plan in August 2021. It assessed her as needing support with nutrition, medication, and personal care. The care plan was for two 30-minute domiciliary care visits each day. The Council arranged for Care Company Plus to provide domiciliary care. The Council had vetted the company as part of its tendering procedure. Mr B confirmed he was happy with this arrangement.
13. Care Company Plus provided domiciliary care from August to October 2021.
14. In September 2021, Mr B contacted the Council because he had not heard anything from the financial assessment. He advised Mrs C was now in receipt of housing benefit and he had not included this on the financial form.
15. The Council reviewed Mrs C’s care plan in September 2021. Mrs C said the domiciliary care workers were a wonderful support and always asked if there is anything else they can do for her. Mr B said the care plan was going well and his mother enjoyed having domiciliary care workers visit. He said the only issue was that Mrs C would touch her medication and the domiciliary workers would not know if she had taken it. The Council advised him to get a safe box to keep her medication in. It decided it did not need to make any changes to Mrs C’s care plan.
16. In October 2021, the Council sent Mr B, Mrs C’s financial assessment. The letter explained how it undertook the assessment. It decided Mrs C needed to contribute around £100 each week towards the cost of her care. It said it would send an invoice every four weeks. The Council also sent her an invoice for the care she received from August to mid-September 2021.
17. Mr B asked the Council to cancel the care package. He said he could not justify his mother spending a third of her income on care. The Council contacted Mrs C. She said she did not need domiciliary care because she was coping well with the support of her family. Mr B confirmed his mother would not let the carers do anything other than make her a cup of tea and the family could do that.
18. In November 2021, Mr B complained to the Council. He said he understood there would be a minimal charge for his mother’s domiciliary care, but this was not the case. He said he had to cancel his mother’s care package because of the huge cost. He complained the Council did not tell him this when it put the care package in place.
19. The Council spoke to Mr B about his complaint. During this discussion he raised issues with the care his mother received, namely:
• On at least 10 occasions, the care provider either missed the visit or did not turn up on time.
• On one occasion the care provider did not give his mother her medication. He said there was no adverse effect as a result of this.
20. He told the Council this led him to cancel care from the care provider. The Council explained the financial assessment, care contributions and its invoicing procedure.
21. In December 2021, the Council sent Mr B a formal letter of response. It advised:
• It had raised the concerns he shared about Care Company Plus during the complaint investigation with its commissioning team and had asked them to raise this with the provider. It apologised for any distress caused by the lapse in quality of care.
22. It apologised for its delay telling Mr B the result of the financial assessment and because he received an invoice before he received the financial assessment. It told Mr B it would contact him to update Mrs C’s financial assessment because she had a pension it was not previously aware of.

Analysis

23. There is evidence the Council told Mr B and Mrs C, it may charge Mrs C for domiciliary care. The financial form Mr B completed for Mrs C and the financial assessment the Council gave them stated an individual may need to contribute towards the cost of their care. The factsheet explained how the Council would undertake the financial assessment and the maximum the Council would charge for each hour of domiciliary care. There is no evidence the Council told Mr B Mrs C would not have to contribute towards the cost of domiciliary care.
24. The Council accepted it delayed completing Mrs C’s financial assessment. The Council’s delay was fault, and it creates uncertainty about whether Mr B and Mrs C would have cancelled the domiciliary care sooner if they had known the cost of it earlier. This uncertainty caused Mrs C injustice.
25. There is no evidence Mr B raised his concerns about Care Company Plus with the Council before November 2021. Indeed, both Mr B and Mrs C spoke positively about the service Care Company Plus was providing during the review of Mrs C’s care plan, just a month before they cancelled the service. When Mr B raised concerns with the Council, it took appropriate action and asked its commissioning team to raise his concerns with the provider.

Back to top

Agreed action

26. Within one month of the final decision, the Council will pay Mrs C £200 for the injustice caused by its delay completing her financial assessment.
27. The Council should provide the Ombudsman with evidence it has completed these actions.

Back to top

Final decision

28. I have completed my investigation and uphold Mr B’s and Mrs C’s complaint. Mrs C was caused an injustice by the actions of the Council. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy that injustice.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman