Summary: The Council acknowledges it did not follow its usual process in seeking to resolve Mr X’s problems with his previous domiciliary care provider. Mr X now has a new care provider giving a satisfactory service, the Council has improved its processes and offered a proportionate sum to Mr X and his family in recognition of the distress caused. That is a suitable remedy for the injustice suffered and I have completed the investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X (as I shall call the complainant) complains the Council delayed in resolving the problems with her father’s care provider: she says the Council told her the only alternative was Direct Payments for the family to find their own care provider.

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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, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered all the information provided by the Council and Ms X. Both parties had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement before I reached a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

5. Everyone whose needs the local authority meets must receive a personal budget as part of the care and support plan. The personal budget gives the person clear information about the money allocated to meet the needs identified in the assessment and recorded in the plan.

There are three main ways in which a personal budget can be administered:

As a managed account held by the local authority with support provided in line with the person’s wishes;

As a managed account held by a third party (often called an individual service fund or ISF) with support provided in line with the person’s wishes;

As a direct payment. (Care and Support Statutory Guidance 2014)

6. Direct payments are monetary payments made to individuals who ask for one to meet some or all of their eligible care and support needs. They enable people to arrange their own care and support to meet their eligible needs.

What happened

7. Mr X has a care package arranged and funded by the Council. His care plan requires 2 carers 4 times a day for personal care and transfers from the bed to chair and chair to bed.
8. The Council’s preferred domiciliary care provider CRG was providing Mr X’s care package from June 202. Ms X complained several times to the Council about the performance of the agency. She said although 2 carers were required at a time to transfer and hoist Mr X, very often only one carer arrived. Then either the visit was shortened because the carer was waiting for the other member of staff, or either Mrs or Ms X would have to help with Mr X’s personal care. Ms X says the stress of coping with the situation was making her mother ill.
9. The care provider responded to Ms X’s complaint in May. The officer who responded said she understood that due to “the complexities” of the care package there were times when care staff had not arrived together. She said all carers had been reminded of the need to arrive together.
10. Ms X said sometimes the situation would improve for a short time after a complaint then revert to the previous unsatisfactory performance. She said she no longer wanted CRG to provide her father’s care. She says however that when she asked the Council to arrange another agency, it told her the alternative was for her family to have Direct Payments and employ care staff directly.
11. Ms X complained to the Ombudsman.
12. In June 2021 the Council arranged a different care provider for Mr X. Ms X told the Council the new care agency was satisfactory.
13. The Council says its first preference is to speak with residents about the possibility of managing their own care arrangements through Direct Payment and if they do not want Direct Payments, to refer them to the commissioned care provider. It says if neither option is suitable it will then try to arrange a spot contract with another care agency which has capacity.
14. The Council says it did not follow the usual process in this case which meant that Mr X stayed with CRG much longer than he would have wanted to. The Council says to remedy this it “proposes updating the available guidance to assist with what steps to take when residents are considering a move of provider to ensure that a move to a different provider is considered at the appropriate time”.
15. The Council has provided details of its contract monitoring process. It says it has now made changes to its monitoring and complaint handling to make them more robust and introduced the role of ‘Quality Leads’ to its commissioned providers: Council employees who will have a presence in the care providers’ branch officers to ensure the delivery of a good quality service.
16. The Council has also offered a payment of £600 to Mr X and his family to reflect the distress caused by the period of time when care provided was unsuitable.

Analysis

17. It was fault on the part of the Council not to follow its usual process in responding to Ms X’s complaints about the delivery of her father’s care.
18. That led to delay in the provision of a suitable service for Mr X and distress for his family.
19. The Council has now taken steps to improve its procedures, has arranged a suitable different care provider, and made a proportionate offer to Mr X.

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Agreed action

20. Within one month of my final decision the Council will confirm it has made the payment of the offered sun to Mr X.

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Final decision

21. I have completed the investigation on the basis the Council’s actions and payment remedy the outstanding injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman