Summary: We will not investigate Mr and Mrs X’s complaint about the lack of information about the costs of Mrs Y’s residential care. This is because the Council paid Mrs Y’s care fees initially, and later reduced the amount due for the chargeable days by £200, which is an appropriate remedy for the uncertainty caused. We will not investigate the complaint about the care home placement because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained, on behalf of her late mother, Mrs Y, that she was pressurised to accept a particular care home when her mother was discharged from hospital in 2023. She said the care home was not suitable and the Council failed to properly respond to her concerns about her mother’s care. She also complained the Council is now charging care fees, which it had not told the family about and for which there was no valid contract in place.
2. Mrs X said the failings caused her additional distress at an already difficult time.

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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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Following a discussion with her family whilst she was in hospital, it was agreed Mrs Y should be discharged to a residential care home for an assessment of her care needs.
7. In mid-June, care home A said it was struggling to manage Mrs Y’s escalating behaviours. A social worker contacted Mrs X to explain they would be carrying out a needs assessment. Council records show the social worker explained about financial assessments, was told Mrs Y’s capital was above the capital limit and confirmed this meant Mrs Y would need to pay the full cost of her care form the date of the needs assessment. The social worker confirmed this by email. There is no indication the Council told Mr and Mrs X the amount of the care costs.
8. Following the needs assessment, it was agreed a change of placement was needed. Mr and Mrs X identified an alternative care home and Mrs Y moved to care home B later that month. The Council later sent an invoice for 14 days care costs from the date of the needs assessment to the date Mrs Y moved to care home B.
9. Also in late June 2023, Mr and Mrs X raised concerns about the level of care at care home A. Mr X provided further information in mid-July. In its complaint response in mid-September, the Council accepted there was a failure to provide costs information when Mrs Y was in hospital. Although the Council confirmed Mrs Y had to pay for 14 days’ care, it later reduced this by one day.

Placement at care home A

10. When Mrs Y was in hospital, it was agreed she needed a residential care home that could assess her needs. Care home A initially confirmed it could meet her needs, and the Council understood Mrs X had agreed to Mrs Y being placed there. Generally hospital discharge decisions do have to be made quickly because hospitals need to free up beds for other patients.
11. Care home A later decided it could not meet Mrs Y’s needs. It said some of the information the hospital gave it initially was inaccurate and that some of Mrs Y’s behaviours had changed. It told the Council it was struggling to meet Mrs Y’s needs. The Council discussed this with Mr and Mrs X and carried out a needs assessment, which was appropriate action to take.
12. We will not consider this complaint further because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

Level of care

13. Mr and Mrs X did not raise any concerns with care home A or the Council until an alternative care home had been found. Care home A responded fully to the concerns, and the Council shared information about them to its Quality Assurance and Commissioning teams, which is appropriate. There is no indication of fault causing injustice to Mrs Y but, in any case, Mrs Y has since died so we cannot remedy any injustice to her. It was appropriate for care home A to give notice when it decided it could not meet Mrs Y’s needs and an alternative placement was found well within the one month’s notice given.
14. We will not consider this complaint further because there is nothing worthwhile we could achieve by doing so.

Information about the cost of Mrs Y’s care

15. If we investigated this complaint, it is likely we would find the Council at fault because it did not give information about the likely costs of care home A when Mrs Y was in hospital, and there is no evidence it told the family what the cost of care home A would be when it told them Mrs Y would need to pay the full cost of her care from mid-June 2023. Further, there was a delay in confirming the amount due between June and early October 2023.
16. On balance, Mrs Y would have moved to residential care in any event, so the injustice caused by the lack of costs information is limited to the uncertainty about the amount of the care fees prior to October 2023. I note the Council paid Mrs Y’s care fees initially and has since reduced the outstanding fees by £200, which is equivalent to the cost of one day at care home A. I consider that reduction is a sufficient remedy for the uncertainty caused.
17. We will not consider this part of the complaint further because the injustice has been remedied and there is nothing more we could achieve by further investigation.

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Final decision

18. We will not investigate Mr and Mrs X’s complaint because there is nothing worthwhile we could achieve by doing so.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman