Summary: Mr B complained the Council failed to provide him with suitable support to meet his care needs since May 2020. As a result, he said he experienced distress due to the lack of support. We found the Council was not at fault. This is because it provided interventions and care based on the information Mr B provided.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr B, complained about the Council’s handling of request for support with his care needs. He said it failed to:
• provide suitable care support to meet his needs since May 2020;
• do a financial assessment of his means,
• properly respond to his concerns and told him to look after himself.
2. As a result, Mr B said he experienced distress due to not having care support, or enough care support.

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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 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)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. As part of my investigation, I have:
• considered Mr B’s complaints and the Council’s responses;
• discussed the complaint with Mr B;
• considered the information the Council provided in response to my enquiries; and
• considered the relevant law and guidance;
6. I gave Mr B and the Council an opportunity to comment on a draft version on this decision, and I have considered the comments they made.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

7. Sections 9 and 10 of the Care Act 2014 require local authorities to carry out an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support. The assessment must be of the adult’s needs and how they impact on their wellbeing and the results they want to achieve. It must also involve the individual and where suitable their carer or any other person they might want involved.
8. The Care and Support Statutory guidance (the Guidance) says when an individual expresses a need, or any challenges or difficulties they face because of their conditions, the local authority should:
• ensure it has considered the impact on the individuals day-to-day life. This includes needs which the individual may not have identified.
• not remove individuals from the assessment process too soon. This is because early or targeted interventions such as universal services can delay an adult’s needs from progressing. This may lead to a pause in the assessment process to allow for such interventions to take place and for any benefit to the individual to be determined.
• determine at the first point of contact, whether an individual is able to be involved in their assessment. This includes considering the individual’s ability to understand, retain and consider information, and share their views and feelings.

What happened

9. Mr B lives alone in his home. He is agoraphobic and has severe anxiety, as a result he has not left his home for several years.
10. In early 2020, Mr B started having problems with his eyes due to conjunctivitis. This resulted in his eyesight deteriorating to the extent that he cannot see.
11. In May 2020 Mr B told the Council about his condition and loss of sight. He asked the Council for help with online shopping.
12. The Council told Mr B it would ask for more information about his conditions from his GP. It also told him about its Customer Hub and how it could help him with online food shopping and prescription collections.
13. The Council’s officer spoke with Mr B’s GP surgery and was told his GP would call the Council back and make contact with Mr B.
14. The following week a delivery driver, who had attended Mr B’s home, contacted the Council. He told the Council he was concerned about Mr B’s health and how he was managing in his home.
15. The Council spoke with Mr B again. It explained his GP had failed to call the Council back despite its request. Mr B told the Council he now needed support with online food shopping, general welfare support and prescription collection. So, the Council:
• asked his GP to contact him for a telephone consultation; and
• arranged for him to receive support from Age UK. This support included general welfare support, prescription collection and support with only food shopping.
16. In July 2020, the 111 Service called the Council. It explained Mr B had had a fall due to his eye infection and raised concerns about his ability to manage on his own.
17. The Council spoke with Mr B again. It said he told it the Age UK support was good and the worker supported him with his online shopping, general welfare support and collected his prescriptions. He also said he had issues with using his microwave, but he now had labels on it and could use it properly. The Council told Mr B:
• he could use its Meals at Home Service, if needed;
• it would arrange a fire safety referral to ensure Mr B’s home was safe;
• its Sensory Service would call him with advice on how to manage his impaired vision; and
• he should contact the Council if he developed further support needs.
18. The Council said its Sensory Service tried to contact Mr B, but he did not answer or respond to is message.
19. In Autumn 2020, the Age UK worker told the Council Mr B’s eye condition had not improved and he was continuing to have difficulties managing in his home.
20. In response to the concern, the Council Sensory Service contacted Mr B again and it allocated a Community Care Officer (CCO) to complete a Care Act assessment.
21. The CCO completed the assessment with Mr B and found he needed:
• help to prepare meals and nutrition;
• some support to read the written communication he received;
• help with online shopping, which his friend could not continue doing long term;
• help to be part of the local community, work, leisure and learning. However, as he was not able to leave his home this could not be provided at this time; and
• a deep clean of his home before carers could work there safely.
22. The Council set out Mr B’s care needs in a Care Plan and arranged for a care agency to provide the small package of care for him. It also arranged and paid for a cleaning company to clean his home.
23. The care agency started to provide the agreed care to Mr B. However, shortly after he asked the Council to reduce the care as he did not want help to prepare meals on each day of the week.
24. Mr B said the cleaning company threw away or took things it shouldn’t have. So, the deep clean of his home was not finished. He said he has since taken legal action against the company for the lost items.
25. Mr B also started to receive some support from a Council funded service with general welfare support.
26. In late 2020 the Council completed a financial assessment to decide if Mr B had to contribute to the cost of his care. It found he had to, and his contributions would start in February 2021.
27. In February 2020, Mr B cancelled the agreement with the care agency. He said this was because:
• carers kept moving his things around, which made it difficult for him to manage due to his eyesight;
• a carer had dropped and broken his phone. He has since taken legal action against the care company; and
• he did not agree with the contributions he was asked to make towards his care costs.
28. Mr B told the Council he wanted it to help him recruit a personal assistant (PA) and provide him with a direct payment when the PA was in place. He said this would help him better as it would be the same person who would deliver the care.
29. The Council arranged for a recruitment agency to advertise for a PA for Mr B. It said initially some PA’s were interested but when they received more information about his needs and his home, they decided not to apply.
30. In Spring 2021, the Council’s funded welfare support service was decommissioned. The Council told Mr B this support would therefore end. However, its CCO would continue to support him, and it hoped a personal assistant would be recruited soon.

Mr B’s complaint to the Council

31. Mr B was unhappy with the support the Council had provided him since May 2020. He said it:
• failed to support him in May 2020 when he contacted the Council;
• did arrange the Age UK support, but this was after the delivery driver raised his concerns and the support was not enough;
• failed to provide a case worker (CCO) until autumn 2020 and he did not have a carer until October 2020;
• he was told the Council’s funded welfare support service had been decommissioned, but he had not had enough care support since early 2020 when he cancelled the care agency support;
• he was still waiting for the Council to recruit a PA, but this was taking too long; and
• he found an officer in its Sensory Team to be unprofessional following his request for cane. Mr B said the officer told him ‘to get down on his hand and knees’ to move around his home.
32. Mr B also told the Council about his issues with the cleaning company and the care agency worker who had damaged his phone. He said he was taking legal action against both companies.
33. The Council did not uphold Mr B’s complaint. It told him it found it acted proportionately and appropriately when he asked for support. It explained:
• In May 2020, Mr B had only raised concerns about managing online food shopping due to his eye condition. It had advised him about such support from its Customer Hub and referred him for support with Age UK. It had also contacted his GP on two occasions for more information about his eye condition but received no response.
• In Summer 2020 when the 111 Service raised concerns about Mr B, the Council contacted him without delay. He confirmed the Age UK support was helpful and did not raise any further support needs. It also made a fire safety referral and its Sensory Service tried to contact him.
• In Autumn 2020, when the Age UK worker raised concerns about Mr B, its Sensory Service managed to contact him with advice, it allocated a case worker (CCO) and it completed a Care Assessment for him. It agreed he was entitled to a small package of support due to his difficulties preparing meals and it arranged for a care agency to provide the support.
• It acknowledged he had not received adequate support since early 2021. However, this was because he had refused support from the care agency or any other care agencies it had offered.
• It had agreed for Mr B to receive a direct payment and to help him recruit a PA. However, this had been delayed as he was concerned about his financial contribution toward the support. When he told the Council to start the recruitment, it arranged for this without delay, but no suitable carer had applied.
• Its officer denied make the inappropriate statement to Mr B, but it apologised if there had been a misunderstanding between its Sensory Team Officer and Mr B. It also said it only provide canes for outdoor use, but he wanted this for use in his home only.
34. In response to my enquiries the Council said it has since stopped its agreement with the recruitment agency. This was because there had been no interest in the PA role to support Mr B. It said Mr B has agreed for its CCO to recruit a care agency temporarily, while she continues to try to recruit a PA for him. The Council also said it understands Mr B’s eye condition is due to cataracts and can therefore be corrected with surgery. However, as he is agoraphobic, he is unable to leave his home for such medical treatment.

Analysis

Did the Council fail to provide suitable care for Mr B?

35. Between May and Autumn 2020, the Council contacted Mr B’s GP to better understand his eye condition. It asked him what his support needs were, and it arranged for Age UK to support him with the identified needs.
36. I found the Council acted on the information it received from Mr B and put in place suitable interventions to meet the needs he had. It also tried to support him to progress the medical assessment of his condition to limit the care needs he may have. I have therefore not found the Council at fault for the support it provided Mr B in this period.
37. In September 2020 the Council’ assessed Mr B’s needs and allocated a case worker to him (CCO). It found he was entitled to a small care package based on the needs identified by it and Mr B. It arranged for a care agency to deliver the care and a cleaning company to clean his home.
38. I understand Mr B had issues with the cleaning company and said it threw away or took items from his home. He also had issues with the care agency as one of its cares damaged his phone. As Mr B has taken legal action against the company and the care agency, I cannot consider these matters any further.
39. However, as a result Mr B decided to cancel the care agency support, which meant he had no care support in place. I found the Council was not at fault for his lack of care support. This is because:
• its CCO supported and provided advice to Mr B throughout this process and continues to do so;
• Mr B delayed the recruitment process as he did not want to make a contribution towards the care costs;
• it agreed to help Mr B recruit a personal assistant and provide a direct payment to pay for this;
• when it became clear it would take some time to recruit a personal assistant, the CCO offered Mr B to receive care from a care agency in the interim. However, Mr B refused this support on several occasions; and
• Mr B has since agreed for the Council to arrange a care agency to provide his care. The Council’s records show it has involved him in the process and acted without delay.

Mr B’s financial assessment

40. I understand Mr B believes the Council has not completed a financial assessment. However, the Council discussed the financial assessment with him in late 2020. It told him it had completed the assessment and shared the outcome with him. It explained it found he had to contribute towards his care needs.
41. I am therefore satisfied the Council completed its financial assessment of Mr B’s means.
42. I have also considered the assessment against the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014. I have seen no evidence to suggest its assessment was incorrect.

Communication with Mr B

43. Mr B said he does not feel the Council has properly responded to his concerns. However, the evidence shows the Council considered and responded to each of his requests. I understand Mr B does not agree with its view and decisions. However, I have seen no evidence the Council failed to respond to his concerns. Also, since September 2020 when the CCO was allocated to Mr B, he has received support and had a point of contact throughout.
44. Mr B also said an officer in the Council’s Sensory Team told him to ‘get on his hands and knees’ to move around in his home. The Council has apologised if there was a misunderstanding between Mr B and its officer. However, I cannot make a finding on this matter as there is no evidence available to investigate this allegation. I acknowledge the Council’s apology and I believe a different outcome is unlikely to be achieved from further investigation.

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Final decision

45. I have completed my investigation with a finding of no fault by the Council. This is because it acted adequately and proportionately to the needs and information Mr B presented to it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman