Summary: Mrs X complained about the Care Home’s handling of her husband’s (Mr X) notice period which she says it incorrectly charged him for. The Care Home charged Mr X for his notice period in line with his contract and without fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Care Home’s handling of her husband’s (Mr X) notice period which she says it incorrectly charged him for. She says this has caused distress, frustration and financial uncertainty.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about adult social care providers and decide whether their actions have caused an injustice, or could have caused injustice, to the person making the complaint. I have used the term fault to describe such actions. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B and 34C)
3. 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)
4. We investigate complaints about adult social care providers. We provide a free service,but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B(8) and (9))

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What I have and have not investigated

5. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended). Mrs X has complained the Care Home wrongly invoiced her in May 2023 for a haircut Mr X had in March 2023 but did not complain to us until November 2024, over a year later. It was reasonable for Mrs X to complain to us earlier about this. Therefore, I will not be investigating the matter.
6. Mrs X also complained the Care Home wrongly invoiced her £20 for a chiropodist appointment Mr X had in November 2024. Mrs X says Mr X can get this for free on the NHS. A chiropodist came to Care Home to treat 23 residents, one of which was Mr X. Mr X has capacity and could decide not to have this treatment if he did not want it. There is not enough evidence of fault or significant injustice to justify investigating this matter further.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Care Provider as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Mrs X and the Care Provider 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

Relevant law and guidance

Care homes: advice on consumer law (December 2021)

9. If a resident is admitted to hospital, care homes are required to reserve the resident’s room for them whilst they are temporarily absent from the home.
10. Care homes must review the resident’s position after a set period of absence (for example, 6-8 weeks) to ascertain whether they are likely to be able to return to the home, and discuss and agree with them and their representatives what should happen with regards to the further retention of the room.
11. Care homes should ensure that:
• The terms clearly set out how much notice is required from the resident, how it must be given and to whom (eg in writing to the home manager).
• The notice period for ending the agreement is no longer than what it is required to give the resident in the event of the care home terminating the agreement.
• It does not impose unreasonable barriers to termination (eg requiring that notice must always be given by registered post).

Mr and Mrs X’s contract with the Care Home

12. The contract states if a resident in hospital is unable to return to the Care Home:
• The purchaser will need to attend to clear the residents room which will mark the end of the agreement with the Care Home and billing will cease on this day. This will apply when the care team are no longer able to meet a residents re-assessed needs.
13. The contract states the following regarding giving notice for leaving by choice:
• For permanent or longer-term residents, the care home requires four weeks written notice to terminate this agreement. The resident will be charged to the end of the notice period or until the room is cleared of the resident’s belongings, if this is after the notice period end date.

What happened

14. Mrs X complained on behalf of her husband Mr X who was residing in a residential Care Home. The Care Home is unable to accept residents into its care who are unable to walk with a zimmer frame and the help of one carer. This is its baseline to be able to give residents the care and support they need.
15. At the start of July 2024, Mr X was admitted to hospital. The records show the following day the hospital notified the Care Home that Mr X was medically fit for discharge but he was unable to stand up. The Care Home told the hospital it was unable to take Mr X back unless he met the baseline.
16. The records show four days later the hospital updated the Care Home that Mr X was now able to use a rotunda to transfer and asked if it would take him back. The Care Home reiterated its stance and said Mr X should have respite care to get back to baseline before coming back to the Care Home.
17. In late July 2024, Mrs X notified the Care Home Mr X was going into respite for rehabilitation for two weeks. Mrs X said after this she would like Mr X to return to the Care Home.
18. At the start of August 2024, the records show a nurse informed the Care Home Mr X was now in respite. The nurse said they were having to use a hoist to transfer Mr X from one place to another.
19. Two days later Mrs X went to the Care Home to clear out Mr X’s room. This was four weeks after Mr X initially went into hospital.
20. In September 2024, the Care Home emailed Mrs X saying it was aware Mr X has not returned to the Care Home following his stay in hospital and Mrs X has not paid for his room in September. It asked Mrs X whether Mr X would be returning here given that it has no record of her giving notice and the Care Home does not know the current situation.
21. Mrs X sent the Care Home a letter the same month saying the Care Home told her Mr X would not be able to return if he could not walk which unfortunately then happened. Therefore, Mrs X cleared his room and cancelled the standing order.
22. On receipt of the letter, the Care Home issued a final account statement which included a charge for the four week notice period. Mrs X complained in October 2024 saying she should not have to pay the notice period as she was told on 13 July 2024 the Care Home would not take Mr X back if he could not walk. This turned out to then be the case. Mrs X says she came to clear his room in August 2024 and therefore, billing should cease from this date as per the contract.
23. In December 2024, the Care Home issued a final complaint response saying it could not take Mr X back until he could walk with a zimmer frame and the help of one carer. It said the hospital accepted this and it arranged to send Mr X to respite care for a couple of weeks in the anticipation that Mr X could achieve this and return to the Care Home. The hospital did not inform the Care Home at any point that Mr X would not return to his baseline nor that he would not be returning to the Home. The Care Home says it only became aware he was not returning after Mrs X cleared his room. Therefore, as per the signed contract, the appropriate clause here is ‘giving notice to leave by choice’ which states four weeks’ notice is required. However, as a gesture of goodwill the Care Home reduced the charge by half. This meant it only charged two weeks’ notice from the date she cleared Mr X’s room.
24. Mrs X remained dissatisfied with the Care Home’s handling of the matter and complained to us.

My findings

25. The contract states if a resident in hospital is unable to return to the Care Home the purchaser will need to attend to clear the residents room which will mark the end of the agreement with the Care Home and billing will cease on this day. This will apply when the care team are no longer able to meet a residents re-assessed needs. Mrs X says billing should have ceased on 8 August 2024 when she cleared out Mr X’s room. However, there is no evidence in the records that the hospital anticipated or informed the Care Home Mr X would not walk again and would not be returning to the Care Home. This is supported by the fact it transferred Mr X to respite for rehabilitation to try and get him back to baseline. Also, it was for the Care Home to decide whether it could still meet Mr X’s needs and it would have needed to undertake a review to establish this. As per the guidance, we would have expected the Care Home to review Mr X’s position after six to eight weeks to ascertain whether he would be able to return to the Care Home. Mrs X decided Mr X would not be returning to the Care Home after four weeks. However, she did not discuss this with the Home before clearing his room or notify the Care Home that Mr X would not be able to meet the baseline. Therefore, the Care Home was not at fault for determining Mr X was leaving by choice and charging them for the notice period.

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Decision

26. I find no fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman