Summary: Mr X complains the Council and its care provider, Agency Assistance, failed to deal properly with his return home on 20 April 2020, resulting in him being asked to pay for the Care Workers’ gloves and being told he would have to go back to a care home if he did not agree to pay. The Council did not deal properly with Mr X’s concerns, putting him to the time and trouble of pursuing his complaint. It needs to apologise and pay financial redress.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complains the Council and its care provider, Agency Assistance, failed to deal properly with his return home on 20 April 2020, resulting in him being asked to pay for the Care Workers’ gloves and being told he would have to go back to a care home if he did not agree to pay.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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, sections 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

4. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by Mr X;
• discussed the complaint with Mr X;
• considered the comments and documents the Council and Agency Assistance have provided in response to my enquiries; and
• shared a draft of this statement with those involved and considered the comments from Mr X, the Council and Agency Assistance before making my final decision.

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What I found

What happened

6. Mr X has disabilities which mean he uses a wheelchair and needs help with all physical activities. In March 2020 he was living at home with 57 hours a week of support from a Personal Assistant (PA). He employed the PA using a direct payment from the Council. Mr X experienced increased levels of anxiety because of COVID-19. His PA gave notice from 23 March, as he needed to shield himself. The Council started arranging for Mr X to stay in a care home. It also arranged support from Agency Assistance until he could move to a care home.
7. On 23 March, Mr X told the Council he was not happy as the Care Worker provided by Agency Assistance:
• asked him about his medication;
• tried to persuade him to have a shower when he said he did not want one; and
• took a telephone call while with him.
8. Mr X went to stay in a care home from 25 March for up to eight weeks, or until COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.
9. On 16 April Mr X told the Council he wanted to go home, as he was not happy at the care home. The Council asked him if he would accept help from Agency Assistance again but noted he may not want to. According to the Council’s records, Mr X said: “I don’t care, I’ll take anyone right now”.
10. Agency Assistance agreed to pick Mr X up from the care home and meet his care needs from 20 April.
11. Mr X called the Council on 20 April. He said he was unhappy with his care. He said the Care Worker had told him he needed to pay for disposable gloves. The Care Worker also asked Mr X if he wanted to have a shower. Mr X said he did not want the Care Worker back. The Council told him it was “early days” and he would need to work with it and Agency Assistance if he was to remain at home. It advised him to accept Care Workers would ask him if he wanted to have a shower and just say “yes” or “no”. It suggested Mr X give the Care Worker a chance, as he had no specific complaint against him. It advised him to talk to the Care Worker about how he wanted his needs met. It agreed to check the position on paying for gloves.
12. Agency Assistance’s records say Mr X refused to pay for gloves, despite explaining they were for his protection, as this was not his responsibility. He said he would return to the care home. Agency Assistance told the Council it was struggling to support Mr X as he would not accept the Care Workers offered to him. When the care home confirmed it could take Mr X back, Agency Assistance took him there.
13. In response to my enquiries on this complaint Agency Assistance said:
• Mr X asked the Care Worker to provide two boxes of gloves;
• the Care Worker agreed to do this and said they would cost £2.60 a box;
• the Care Worker had his own personal protective equipment (gloves, aprons and masks); and
• Mr X became angry, made numerous phone calls and arranged to return to the care home.
14. Mr X disputes the claim that he said he wanted gloves. He says the morning Care Worker told him he needed more gloves. He says the afternoon Care Worker brought the gloves and told him he would have to pay for them. Mr X cannot recall whether the Care Workers had their own gloves, aprons and masks.
15. On 22 April Mr X told the Council he had returned to the care home. The Council suggested he remain there until COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. Mr X wanted to know when that would be. The Council said it could take months, rather than weeks.
16. On 27 April Mr X told the Council he wanted to complain about Agency Assistance asking him to pay £2.60 for a box of disposable gloves. The Council suggested this might be pointless as he was not planning to use Agency Assistance again.
17. On 13 May Mr X told the Council he wanted to return home but with a different care agency. The Council said he would probably not be able to return to the care home if he found a new care agency lacking.
18. On 18 May the Council again discouraged Mr X from returning home.
19. On 17 June Mr X’s PA confirmed he would return to work on 1 July. Mr X therefore returned home that day.
20. Mr X complained to the Council on 29 June about:
• the Care Worker asking him to pay for a box of gloves;
• the Care Worker telling him to have a shower, rather than asking him if he wanted a shower; and
• Agency Assistance sending a Care Worker whom it had been agreed would not visit him again.

Mr X said he wanted Agency Assistance to pay him £200 for the upset caused.

21. When the Council spoke to Mr X about his complaint on 14 July, it understood he did not want a written response. However, it wrote to him on 4 August so he would have a record of the conversation. It said:
• the short notice for reinstating his care package meant the person he had asked not to deliver his care was the available Care Worker;
• it had asked Agency Assistance not to send that Care Worker again and to address the use of language so he was not “told to shower” but asked if he would like one;
• he did not have to pay for gloves worn by carers while providing care; and
• it apologised that he felt the only way to have his concerns listened to was to make a complaint.
22. Mr X says if things had been handled properly he would have been able to stay at home in April, rather than spend another two and a half months in the care home.
23. In response to a draft of this statement, the Council and Agency Assistance say:
• on 20 April Mr X asked for the Care Worker to provide two boxes of gloves for his PA to use;
• Agency Assistance agreed to do this if Mr X paid for the gloves, as it is neither its nor the Council’s responsibility to provide personal protective equipment for Mr X’s PA;
• Agency Assistance did not know Mr X had refused to accept support from one of its Care Workers as Mr X specifically asked for him; and
• Agency Assistance provides personal protective equipment to all its Care Workers and has had no reports of COVID-19 among its staff or clients.

Is there evidence of fault by the Council which caused injustice?

24. As it commissioned Mr X’s care, the Council is accountable for the action of Agency Assistance (see paragraph 4 above).
25. I cannot hold the Council responsible for the fact Mr X returned to the care home in April. It was his decision to return to the care home. He arranged the move himself without involving the Council.
26. However, the Council did not handle Mr X’s concerns properly. On 20 April it told him it would check the position on paying for gloves, but did not do so. On 27 April it discouraged Mr X from making a complaint. When the Council responded to Mr X’s complaint it told him he did not need to pay for gloves worn by Care Workers when providing care. But it did not address the question of whether that is what had happened. Nor did it consider whether other people may have been wrongly asked to pay for personal protective equipment. That is fault by the Council. It has caused injustice to Mr X by putting him to the time and trouble of pursing his complaint further.
27. There are conflicting accounts of what happened on 20 April. Agency Assistance’s record from 20 April show it asked Mr X to pay for gloves which were “for his protection”. It has no record of Mr X asking for gloves, but now says that is what happened. It says he wanted the gloves for his PA, although the PA was not visiting him at that time. Mr X says the Care Worker told him he needed gloves. Mr X did not pay for the gloves but elected to move back to the care home.

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Agreed action

28. I recommended the Council:
• within four weeks writes to Mr X apologising for not addressing his concerns properly and pays him £100 to redress the injustice caused.

The Council has agreed to do this.

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Final decision

29. I have completed my investigation, as the Council has agreed to take action to remedy the injustice it has caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman