London Borough of Ealing (25 000 832)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council not providing her with section 117 aftercare following her discharge from hospital. This is because the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused by the likely fault.
The complaint
- Miss X complains the Council did not provide her with section 117 aftercare following her discharge from hospital.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- If we were to investigate, it is likely we would find fault causing Miss X an injustice. This is because the Council delayed in completing an assessment following her discharge from hospital. Miss X was discharged in April 2024, but the Council did not start its assessment until January 2025. This meant no aftercare plan was in place for Miss X until February 2025.
- The February 2025 aftercare plan confirmed Miss X has a need for supported living accommodation to meet her needs which arises from her mental health condition. The Council also confirmed Miss X was placed in 24 hour female only supported accommodation as this service provision was identified as most suitable to meet her mental health need.
- Therefore, the delay in completing the assessment and aftercare support plan has caused some uncertainty as to whether Miss X should have received section 117 funded aftercare sooner.
- We therefore asked the Council to remedy this by completing the following:
- Apologise for the delay in completing the care assessment and aftercare support plan.
- Make a symbolic financial payment of £300 to recognise the uncertainty caused.
Agreed action
- The Council agreed to resolve the complaint and will complete the above within four weeks of the final decision.
Final decision
- We have upheld this complaint because the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused by the likely fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman