Summary: Mr X complains about the care provided to Mrs Y and is concerned about the risk to others. The Ombudsman finds the Care Provider commissioned by the Council was at fault but it took sufficient action to remedy any injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complains about the care provided to his mother, Mrs Y.
2. He is unhappy with the response he received from the Care Provider and is concerned to ensure other people do not experience such poor quality care.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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)
5. We may investigate a complaint on behalf of someone who has died or who cannot authorise someone to act for them. The complaint may be made by:

• their personal representative (if they have one), or
• someone we consider to be suitable.

6. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(2), as amended). In this case, Mr X is Mrs Y’s son and we consider him a suitable person to bring this complaint on her behalf.

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

7. I considered information from the Complainant and from the Council.
8. I sent both parties a copy of my draft decision for comment and took account of the comments I received in response.

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What I found

What happened

9. Mrs Y has a health condition which causes her difficulties with cognition and receives a service from Kent SCP (the Care Provider).
10. Mr X complained to the Care Provider because he had concerns about the care being provided. He said the care worker:
• had not given Mrs Y a full body wash as she had documented.
• did not offer Mrs Y a cup of tea or toast.
• logged that she was with Mrs Y from 07:45 to 08:20 but she was only there from 07:48 to 08:05 which was verified by CCTV.
11. The Care Provider responded to Mr X’s complaint and said it partly upheld his complaint. It said the carer said:
• Mrs Y did not want a wash and asked the carer to document that she had done so because Mr X would be unhappy about it.
• Mrs Y was on her way out of the kitchen with her trolley and a glass of water, half eaten toast and a cup of tea when she arrived. She declined the carer’s offer to get anything else.
• she apologised and thinks she read the time wrongly.
12. The Care Provider said it partly upheld Mr X’s complaint. It apologised and said it would take the following actions to prevent similar problems in future:
• Asked the carer to report any problems to the office so it can inform Mr X.
• Asked the carer to leave another glass of water in future.
• Asked the carer to ensure she double checks the time she logs in and out.
13. Mrs Y’s care plan says “prompt and encourage me to have a stripwash, clean my teeth etc and change my clothing. I may say I’ve had a wash but I haven’t” also “I like having toast and marmalade, tea and water. If I say no, please make it anyway as I may have it later”.

Was there fault which caused injustice?

14. We cannot know whether Mrs Y asked the carer not to wash her but if so, the carer should have alerted the office or at least noted this in the records. This was fault. Carers should not record inaccurate information under any circumstances.
15. The carer also should have followed the care plan and left toast and marmalade, tea and water so Mrs Y could have it later if she wanted. This was also fault.
16. The inaccurate recording of the call times was also fault.
17. The Care Provider apologised and took action to avoid similar problems occurring in future. I am satisfied these actions are enough to remedy any injustice caused by these faults.

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Final decision

18. I have completed my investigation and uphold Mr X’s complaints about the care provided to Mrs Y. There is no outstanding injustice so I make no recommendations.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman