Summary: Ms C complains about the way the former manager of her mother’s care home treated her, when she raised concerns about her mother’s care. The Ombudsman found fault with the way in which the care provider handled Ms C’s complaint, for which it has agreed to apologise.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms C, complained on behalf of herself and her mother, whom I shall call Ms M. Ms C complained the former manager of the care home where her mother lives, behaved in an unprofessional manner towards her. Ms C says she believed this was because she was raising issues with regards to her mother’s care.
2. In addition, the care provider did not respond in a timely and appropriate manner, to the complaint letter(s) she sent from October 2018 onwards.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about adult social care providers and decide whether their actions have caused an injustice, or could have caused injustice, to the person making the complaint. I have used the term fault to describe such actions. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B and 34C)
4. If an adult social care provider’s actions have caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34H(4))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information I received from Ms C and the care provider. I also obtained information and a statement from the former manager of the care home. I shared a copy of my draft decision with Ms C and the care provider, and considered any comments I received before I made a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

6. Ms C’s mother went into the care home in June 2018. Ms C said the care home staff were generally excellent. However, she was very unhappy with the manager’s behaviour (who has since left). Ms C complained to the care provider that when she raised concerns or had questions about her mother’s care, the manager saw these as a potential threat. As a result, the manager became aggressive and bullying towards her and threatened to evict her mother. Ms C told the care provider in her complaint that:
• Shortly after her arrival, she asked a staff member why her mother’s newspaper had not arrived. However, the manager subsequently came up to her and said: 'What's all this about your mother's papers? Ms C said the newspaper got sorted, which was just an oversight by someone not actually ordering it, but that was fine.
• She then brought up the question of her mother's medication asking why she was on three medications to make her go to the toilet, when she was having diarrhoea. The manager told her 'no-one is on three things to make them go to the toilet'. However, the manager agreed to look into this.
• She then raised the question why her mother was on a particular type of medication. The manager said she would ask hospital X why it was prescribed to her. However, Ms C said her mother had stayed at hospital Y. The manager then said “It was hospital X”. Ms C said the manager was wrong, but she did not want to contradict her as the manager was visibly annoyed.
• She then had a meeting with the manager, in which she (Ms C) received ‘a dressing down’ about her rudeness to staff and the manager said that 'if my mother did not settle, she would be asked to leave’.
• The manager spoke to her sister and brother-in-law a week later and gave an account of her (Ms C’s) 'behaviour'. The manager emphasized again that if her mother 'did not settle', she would be asked to leave. This shocked and seriously worried her sister and brother in law who told her (Ms C) to stop complaining. This resulted in a lot of distress and anxiety between her and her family.
7. The issues Ms C complained about to the care provider above, were in relation to a meeting she had with the care home manager, six days after her mother moved into the home. The manager’s record of this meeting states that:
• Spoke to Ms C about some issues and asked her to remain calm while speaking to staff.
• Ms C raised two queries about her mother’s medication. Staff subsequently called the GP and hospital to make enquiries.
8. There is no record or indication in the records that the manager told Ms C at that meeting that she threated to give notice to her mother.
9. The records show the manager looked into each of the issues Ms C had raised, which were subsequently resolved.
10. Furthermore, the care home’s records in relation to contact with the family, do not record / indicate there were further ongoing tensions between the manager and Ms C about care issues. A record dated 26 June 2018 said the home would put a form in the room of Ms C’s mother, where the family could write down any issues. The home would subsequently provide a written response to the issues raised, alleviating any potential for miscommunication. All agreed this was a good way forward.
11. The former manager told me that:
• Ms C’s behaviour cost a lot of distress to staff, reducing some staff members to tears. She said Ms C was bullying, belittling, unpredictable, shouting and frightening staff and residents.
• She had made several attempts and organised meetings to try and resolve these. Towards the end, she had a meeting with Ms C, which was witnessed by one of the senior care assistants. During this meeting, she again discussed Ms C’s behaviour in the home and that this could not continue. At the end of the meeting, she told Ms C that she would review and monitor the situation.
• She did not make a threat that she would evict Ms C’s mother if she continued to complain. However, she did tell Ms C at the beginning that her mother may have to find another home if her mother would not settle.
• She did suggest, later on, that if Ms C continued to feel that the home was not meeting her mother’s needs, the home may perhaps not be the right placement for her mother.
12. A statement which I received from a senior carer said that staff generally felt uncomfortable when Ms C would visit as they would expect her to complain about things and she would talk to staff in a rude manner. However, Ms C’s sister was always polite and thankful to staff.
13. Ms C told me the allegations made about her above are untrue. Furthermore, the former manager only set up two such meetings with her.
14. The former manager and a senior carer told me in their statements, that the home did not have any problems with the rest of the family. The rest of the family were happy with the care the home was providing and their mother was happy and content living there.

Assessment

15. While it is clear there were some tensions / difficulties between Ms C and the former manager, I am unable to conclude the manager acted in a bullying, aggressive or threatening manner to silence Ms C. While Ms C felt the manager had an abrupt style in the way she communicated with her, the manager disagrees with this and has instead criticised Ms C’s style of communication. In the end, this aspect of Ms C’s complaint depends to a significant amount on a difference in views between Ms C and the former manager about what was said and how things were said/meant.
16. The record of the meeting Ms C referred to did not indicate it was a problematic or tense meeting.
17. Furthermore, the records show the former manager took Ms C’s concerns seriously and acted on the specific issues Ms C had raised (see paragraph 6 above).

Ms C’s complaint that the (former) manager bullied her to pay £102.60

18. Ms C complained the former manager pursued her for an amount of £102.60 in an aggressive manner. Ms C said the manager put pressure on her to pay this amount without properly explaining what it was for.
19. The former manager told me that Ms C’s mother was the only resident who did not have a cash account that her mother could use as she wanted. However, this was not correct. Ms C did have a cash account, which had a positive balance of £60 at the start of September 2018. Ms C’s mother paid for Newspapers and a skirt in September, which resulted in a negative balance of £2.60.
20. According to the records, the care provider’s head office notified the former manager of this shortfall on 23 September 2018 and asked the manager to balance it as soon as possible. The manager asked one of the staff members (Ms X) to call Ms C and ask her to balance her mother’s account.
21. Ms C said that Ms X called her to ask her to clear a shortfall of £2.60 in her mother’s account. However, Ms X was unable to explain what the amount was for. Ms X said, in her statement, that:
• She had told Ms C she did not know why the account had gone negative, because she was only filling in for the Business Administrator who deals with accounts.
• Ms C told her that if she didn't have all the information, she should not be calling her. Ms C refused to top up the account and was very rude and belittling during this conversation.
22. Ms C told me that she then received a call from the manager who said she had upset Ms X. Ms C asked the manager to explain what the amount was for, which the manager couldn’t. Instead, the manager said she should pay an additional £100 into her mother’s account to ensure her mother had money to buy things when needed. The manager said the home had sent letters to everyone asking for this, and her mother was the only resident without funds in her account.
23. Following the telephone call, the manager contacted the head office to ask what Ms C’s mother had recently paid out of her account. The manager explained the home was unable to access this information on the system, because the Business Administrator was on leave. The head office said Ms C’s mother had spent the money on a newspaper subscription and a skirt.
24. Ms X said in her statement that when Ms C came to the home two days later, she told her again in a very rude and belittling manner that she should have her facts ready if she asks somebody for money.
25. Ms C said the manager told her again during this visit, that she should pay the £2.60. Ms C told me the manager was still unable to explain how the £2.60 shortfall had occurred.
26. The conversation / meeting at the home between the former manager and Ms C was witnessed by a senior carer. The senior carer said in her statement that:
• The manager asked Ms C politely to come into the office for a chat, which Ms C accepted. The manager explained that Ms X had been upset due to the way Ms C had spoken to her, and that this was not acceptable.
• Ms C began talking over the manager, raising her voice. In response, the manager also raised her voice and asked Ms C to let her finish speaking. The conversation continued like this.
• Towards the end of the meeting, the manager asked Ms C if there were any other issues she needed to resolve. There was then a discussion about other issues and how to resolve them, resulting in an action plan. The manager thanked Ms C for having the meeting.
27. The record of this meeting says that:
• Spoke to Ms C who queried why her mother owed £2.60. I explained that she had paid for the newspapers and her mother had bought a skirt. Ms C had spoken to Ms X and had been quite rude and sharp. Ms C apologised for this and said she would bring in money to cover the amount.
• I suggested to credit her mother’s account with £50 and Ms C would receive a weekly / monthly statement of this account like everyone else.
28. The former manager said that Ms C’s sister and husband came in and offered to pay for the items that Ms C refused to pay. A card payment of £50 was made on 27 September to top up the account. However, Ms C says the manager called her sister on the phone to ask for a payment of £100, after which her sister paid £50 by card.

Assessment

29. The care home was initially unable to explain how the shortfall had occurred, because it could not access the system in the absence of the business manager. This was unfortunate. However, the manager obtained the information from head office the same day and informed Ms C at the meeting two days later.
30. It would have been good practice if the manager had provided a printout of the account, which showed: the balance in Ms M’s account at the start of the month, money spent, and the resulting £2.60 overspent.
31. The care home did not provide any evidence that “a letter had gone out to all residents to ask them to put £100 into the cash account of the residents”. As such, I have concluded there was none. I am also unclear how the care home manager arrived at an amount of £100. However, residents at the home had cash accounts that need to be topped up by the residents (or their families) to enable the residents to pay for things when needed. Ms C’s mother had such an account and it did need to be topped up to enable her to pay for things such as Chiropody.

The way the care provider responded to Ms C’s complaint

32. Ms C complains the care provider failed to respond to the letter(s) she sent from October 2018 onwards, in a timely and appropriate manner.
33. Ms C sent a letter of complaint on 19 October 2018, about the issues I have investigated above. The care provider sent an acknowledgement letter on 23 October 2018 and said it would contact her to discuss her concerns further. The care provider contacted Ms C on 12 November 2018. However, this phone call was short, because Ms C was busy at the time of the call.
34. The care provider told Ms C on 4 December 2018, that it could not look into the complaint until the manager would return to work. The care provider said it tried to contact Ms C on 13 December 2018 to provide an update.
35. Ms C sent a letter to the care provider dated 1 February 2019. In it, Ms C said the care provider had told her two weeks ago that ‘a letter would be imminent’.
36. Due to the lack of action on the part of the care provider to investigate the complaint, the Ombudsman decided on 5 February 2019 to start its investigation, because it would no longer wait for the care provider to carry out its investigation.
37. The care provider told me that the amount of time it took to respond to Ms C’s complaint was beyond what its policy agrees. As such, the Regional Director would like to arrange a meeting with Ms C to apologise for this in person and they will follow this up with a letter as well.

Assessment

38. As Ms C’s complaint was mainly about the manager’s behaviour and actions, I can understand why the care provider waited to start its investigation until the manager would return to the care home. However, the care provider failed to keep Ms C regularly updated about her complaint, which caused Ms C distress.

Agreed action

39. I recommended that, within four weeks of my decision, the care provider should apologise for the distress she suffered because the care provider failed to update her on her complaint.
40. The care provider has told me it has accepted my recommendation.

Back to top

Final decision

41. For reasons explained above, I found there was fault in the way in which the care provider dealt with Ms C’s complaint. I am satisfied with the actions the care provider will carry out to remedy this and have therefore decided to complete my investigation and close the case.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman