Summary: Mr C complains that the Council delayed in informing him that his mother’s care home placement had been made permanent. The Council has accepted fault and agreed to a further financial remedy. The Ombudsman has discontinued his investigation on this basis.

The complaint

1. Mr C complains that there was delay by the council in making a decision regarding his mother’s (Mrs D) permanent care home placement and in notifying him of that decision. The Council accepted it was at fault and agreed to pay Mrs D £276 which was two weeks of care home fees. However, Mr C says that because of the delay in informing him of the permanent placement, Mrs D could not give notice on her flat and incurred further costs of £195 in rent payments. Mr C says the Council should be liable for this.

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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. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), 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. I considered the information provided by Mr C about his complaint and spoke to him on the telephone. I gave Mr C and the Council a copy of my draft decision and invited their comments.

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What I found

6. On 5 September 2018 the Council placed Mrs D in a care for a period of respite of two weeks. On the 14 September 2018 it was agreed that the placement would become permanent and that the social worker would complete the care plan by 20 September 2019. The care plan would then be presented to the quality assurance panel to agree funding. Panel meetings are held on Thursday afternoon, every week.
7. The care plan was completed on 2 October 2018 but the panel meetings were cancelled for the following two weeks. This meant that Mrs D’s care plan was not considered and agreed by the panel until 18 October 2018. The social worker was on annual leave at the time and because of this the family were not informed of the decision until 30 October 2018. Sadly, Mrs D passed away on 25 October 2018. Mr C informed the Council however the social worker was not made aware of this.
8. In its stage one complaint response the Council acknowledged there were delays in making the decision to fund Mrs D’s placement. It recognised that because of this Mr D was not able to provide the appropriate notice to housing benefit. The Council apologised for this and said that whilst it was not able to pay housing benefit, it would refund the financial contribution that Mrs D was paying for the care home placement.
9. Mrs D was paying £138.10 per week. The Council said because the panel was delayed for two weeks it would refund two weeks contribution, totalling £276.20. It also said that as a result of the complaint it had made additional recommendations that:

• The quality assurance panel is to be held on a weekly basis and, if cancelled, it must be rearranged as a matter of urgency;
• Workers who take telephone messages are to be reminded of the importance of passing on a written message either by an email or via an individual’s case notes.

10. Mr C complained to the Ombudsman and said that because of the delay in informing him of the permanent placement, his mother could not give notice on her flat and incurred avoidable costs of £195 in rent payments. Mr C says the Council should be liable for this.
11. During this investigation the Council approached the Ombudsman and offered to pay Mr C, £195. I have spoken to Mr C and he is satisfied that this remedies his complaint.

Agreed action

12. That within two weeks of my final decision the Council make a payment of £195 to Mr C.

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Final decision

13. The Council has accepted fault and agreed to a further financial remedy. I have discontinued my investigation on this basis

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman