Summary: We uphold a complaint about a missed care call. This was fault causing avoidable inconvenience to Ms B and avoidable distress to her daughter Ms A. To remedy the injustice, the Council will apologise within one month.

The complaint

1. Ms A complains about her mother Ms B’s home care, arranged and funded by London Borough of Lewisham (the Council) and delivered by Westminster Homecare Ltd (the Care Provider). She complains:
1. The carer did not attend for the tea time call on 20 July 2018
2. The carer was late/missed the morning call on 21 July 2018
3. The carer emptied the commode in the bin
4. A carer shouted at her mother
5. A carer did not dispose of mouldy food in the fridge.

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What I have investigated

2. I have investigated complaint (a). My reasons for not investigating the other complaints are at the end of this statement.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• It is unlikely we would find fault, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), 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)
5. The Council commissioned the Care Provider to deliver care to meet Ms B’s needs. The Care Provider acted on behalf of the Council and so we can investigate a complaint about the Care Provider’s service to Ms B.
6. 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)
7. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered:
• The Care Provider’s response to the complaint
• Some of Ms B’s care records
• The Council and Care Provider’s response to my enquiries
9. I discussed the complaint with Ms A.
10. The parties received a draft of this statement and I took comments into account.

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What I found

11. Carers fill in a log book each time they visit Ms B. The logs are kept in the home and describe the tasks the carer does each visit. Ms A provided me with a copy of the log book for 20 and 21 July 2018. There is no entry for the tea time call on 20 July. Ms A, who lives with Ms B, but is not always at home as she works, told me she recalls Ms B’s empty lunch time plate was by her when returning from work on the evening of 20 July. Ms A suggests this, and the missing entry in the log book, indicates the carer did not attend, as they would have removed the lunch plate and washed it up.
12. The Care Provider said in its complaint response that it had a signed timesheet for the tea time call on Friday 20 July. So I asked the Care Provider for a copy, but it could not provide one because it has not retained the time sheet. It has accepted fault. On the balance of probability, due to the lack of a log book entry (which I have seen), the tea time visit on 20 July did not take place. This was fault because Ms B’s care was not in line with the agreed schedule.

Agreed action

13. When a council commissions another organisation to provide services on its behalf it remains responsible for those services and for the actions of the organisation providing them. So, although I found fault with the service of the Care Provider, I have made recommendations to the Council.
14. The Council will, within one month, apologise to Ms A and Ms B for the missed call on 20 July.

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Final decision

15. We uphold a complaint about a missed care call. This was fault causing avoidable inconvenience to Ms B and avoidable distress to her daughter Ms A. To remedy the injustice, the Council will apologise within one month of the final decision.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

16. I did not investigate complaints (b) to (e) because:
• The Care Provider explained why the morning call was extremely late on 21 July (due to access problems with the key safe) and apologised. It also apologised for the carer not emptying the commode. This is an appropriate remedy and there is nothing further an Ombudsman’s investigation could achieve;
• Ms A says she overheard a carer shouting at Ms B, but she cannot recall date, the name of the carer or what they said. Without some identifying detail or a recollection of what was said, it is not possible to interview the carer to reach a view on whether there was fault;
• Ms A told me sorting the contents of the fridge and checking the food there had not gone mouldy was not on the agreed plan of care for Ms B. So it is unlikely I would find fault because carers are only required to complete tasks on the care plan.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman