Cherry Acre Residential Home (14 008 263)
Residential care Adverse Findings Notice
Complaint from a woman that a care provider charged her father in law for a period of care when his care was being arranged by the council. She paid the amount invoiced because of the care provider's demands.
Cherry Acre Residential Home failed to respond to a recommendation following an investigation by the Ombudsman so an Adverse Findings Notice has been issued.
The Ombudsman recommended that Cherry Acre:
- repay the family the £6,500 which was incorrectly demanded from them;
- repay the amount due to the family for the period of time when they paid the fees but when the man was also funded by the NHS;
- pay the family £500 to acknowledge the distress, time and trouble which its actions have caused them; and
- ensure that its staff are familiar with the charging regulations.
The care provider has failed to comply with the Ombudsman’s recommendations. it says the council’s delay in resolving the resident’s funding status after he sold his home meant he was paid at a lower rate than the self-funded rate for several months. It does not accept it cannot charge the resident for a period for which the council funded the care.
Further, there does not appear to have been any process of reflection on the Ombudsman’s findings and thus no evidence of having an appreciation of the injustice caused by the fault found through the investigation.
It is for these reasons that the Ombudsman is publishing the Adverse Findings Notice.