Summary

Ms X complains about the failure of staff at a BUPA care home, acting on behalf of Liverpool City Council, to respond properly when she complained about failings in her mother’s care

Finding

The Ombudsman upheld the complaint and found fault casuing injustice

Recommendations

BUPA has already apologised to Ms X for failings it identified in Mrs Y’s care. We also welcome its confirmation that staff now record when they have washed residents’ hair. The Council has already offered to apologise to Ms X for referring her back to BUPA instead of dealing with her complaint itself. It should do this, but to remedy the injustice caused, the Council has also agreed to, within three months of the date of this report, to:

• apologise to Ms X for:
  • the failings in her mother’s care; and
  • the failure of staff at the BUPA care home to respond properly to her initial complaint of poor care, including banning her and her partner from visiting Mrs Y without any due process;
• pay Ms X £750, made up of £500 for the distress and anxiety caused by her poor treatment and inability to advocate for her mother when she complained on Mrs Y’s behalf and £250 for her time and trouble in having to approach us after the Council failed to deal with her complaint;
• ask BUPA to review its own policies and procedures to make sure care home staff check residents’ nutritional and continence needs on arrival;
• review its policies and procedures to ensure other service users who complain are not referred to a care provider where the Council should deal with the complaint itself; and check that care providers with whom it has commissioning arrangements have written procedures for banning visits by relatives that comply with guidance set out by the Care Quality Commission and provide for a written warning, a time limit and reviews and that their staff are aware of these procedures.

Ombudsman satisfied with Council's response: 4 July 2018

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