Summary: Mrs X complained that the Care Provider withdrew escorts for Mr Y’s appointments at short notice causing Mrs Y significant and undue distress. She also complained about the way the Care Provider dealt with Mrs Y’s complaint about this. We found the Care Provider gave too short notice to Mrs Y and did not respond to her complaint appropriately. We recommended the Care Provider apologise and take action to avoid similar problems in future.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complains on behalf of Mrs Y. Mrs Y says that while her husband, the late Mr Y, was in Parklands Lodge Care Home, Athena Healthcare (Park Road) Limited (the Care Provider):
• Changed its policy about providing escorts for medical appointments and did not advise Mr and Mrs Y.
• Gave Mrs Y short notice that she would have to go with Mr Y the following day and again in the coming week, to two hospital appointments.
• Did not recognise the difficulties this caused Mrs Y; and
• Delayed providing a response to her complaint about this.
2. Mrs Y was distressed by the last minute change of plans and had to get up very early to be in time for the second appointment. This put undue stress on her and was very tiring. The Care Provider took ten months to deal with her complaint and said Mrs Y had said she could not be bothered to accompany Mr Y. This made Mrs Y feel the Care Provider was saying she was a liar and didn’t care for her husband. Mrs Y said she did care deeply and to hear this was upsetting. Mrs Y would like the Care Provider to apologise and be honest about how practice changed after the new policy. It should also recognise Mrs Y’s circumstances and apologise for making her feel criticised.

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))
5. If we are satisfied with a care provider’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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information from the Complainant and from the Council.
7. I sent both parties a copy of my draft decision for comment and took account of the comments I received in response.

Back to top

What I found

Background

Complaint handling

8. Our “Quality Matters” good practice guide about acting on compliments, feedback and complaints about adult social care is aimed at care providers among others. Find it here under “Single Complaints Statement (Providers and practitioners): Adult Social Care resources - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. It says care providers should:
• “deal with compliments, feedback and complaints in an open and transparent way without being defensive”.
• “learn from compliments, feedback and complaints and make meaningful changes so services can improve”.
9. Our guidance for care providers on handling complaints can be found on our website here: Resources for care providers - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

What happened

10. Mr Y had lived at Parklands Lodge Care Home since mid 2018. He had health conditions which meant he could no longer walk and struggled to communicate his view. Mrs Y had been caring for him for over seven years; she was also not in good health and had health conditions which caused her significant difficulties. In particular, it took her a long time to get ready to go out in the mornings.
11. Mrs Y visited Mr Y regularly and when he had medical appointments, the Care Provider would escort Mr Y to the appointment and Mrs Y would meet him there. Mrs Y says she did not ask for this, it just happened.
12. In early December 2019, Mrs Y spoke to staff about a hospital appointment Mr Y had the next day. The plan, arranged several weeks before, was that a member of care home staff would escort Mr Y in a taxi to the hospital. Mrs Y would meet him there, and the staff member would return to the home. The staff member told her the Care Provider could not provide an escort for Mr Y and the policy did not allow for this. They told Mrs Y there were no staff available. This meant Mrs Y had to travel to the home and then to the hospital the next day. A few days later, she had to be at the home for 9:00am. This meant she had to be up at 6:30am.
13. Mrs Y complained about this in February 2020. At the end of June, the Care Provider responded. It apologised for the delay and that it had not alerted Mr and Mrs Y to the new policy. It said the policy had not changed but putting it in writing had “intended to bring ease and clarity to the matter”. The Care Provider also said the staff member concerned said Mrs Y had said she couldn’t be bothered when she asked her about accompanying Mr Y. This allegation deeply offended Mrs Y and she strongly refutes this.

Did the Care Provider’s actions cause injustice?

14. While the Care Provider says the policy had not changed, in Mrs Y’s experience it had. When the Care Provider told her it would not escort Mr Y in future, arrangements were already in place over the coming week for two appointments. In withdrawing the escort at such short notice, the Care Provider caused Mrs Y significant and undue stress and inconvenience. The Care Provider should not have given such short notice of the change.
15. The Care Provider did not deal with Mrs Y’s complaint well. The delay was contributed to by the COVID-19 pandemic and, although this was unhelpful, I accept this was a difficult time for the Care Provider. However, even if Mrs Y had said she could not be bothered, it was not necessary to refer to this in the complaints response. The response was defensive and did not show any understanding of the difficulties Mrs Y faced. Instead of a straightforward and meaningful apology, the Care Provider’s response triggered further dissatisfaction.

Back to top

Recommended action

16. To remedy the injustice the Care Provider caused, I recommend it:
• Apologise to Mrs Y in writing for the significant difficulties it caused her in giving such short notice.
• Ensure that in future, it considers the impact on people when it changes arrangements or policies.
• Review its complaints process to ensure responses are appropriate and not defensive.
• Complete these three actions and send evidence of this to me within one month of my final decision. Suitable evidence would include a copy of the apology letter and details of actions taken for the remaining recommendations.

Back to top

Final decision

17. I have completed my investigation and uphold Mrs X’s complaint that the Care Provider:
• Changed its policy about providing escorts for medical appointments and did not advise Mr and Mrs Y.
• Gave Mrs Y short notice that she would have to go with Mr Y the following day and again in the coming week, to two hospital appointments.
• Did not recognise the difficulties this caused Mrs Y; and
• Delayed providing a response to her complaint about this.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman