Summary: Mrs X complained that when her late mother, Mrs Y, stayed in Carder’s Court Care Home, the Care Provider lost her gold chain. Also, that it did not tell the family about its policy on valuables. She says this caused distress to the family. We found the Care Provider did not have suitable policies in place and did not hold an accurate record of Mrs Y’s belongings. The Council has agreed to apologise and pay Mrs X £500 to recognise the loss of the necklace and the distress this caused. The Council has already completed work with the Care Provider and made changes to its contracts to reduce the risk of this happening to others.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complains on behalf of her late mother, Mrs Y. She says Wellington Healthcare (Arden) Ltd trading as Bloomcare (the Care Provider), commissioned by the Council:
• Lost Mrs Y’s gold chain
• Failed to inform the family of any policies on valuables in the care home.
2. The necklace was important to Mrs Y and the loss was distressing for the family. Mrs X says she wants to make sure this doesn’t happen to other people.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’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)
5. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)
6. We may investigate a complaint on behalf of someone who has died or who cannot authorise someone to act for them. The complaint may be made by:

• their personal representative (if they have one), or
• someone we consider to be suitable.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(2), as amended). In this case, we consider Mrs X a suitable person to complain on Mrs Y’s behalf.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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What I found

What happened

9. In August 2020, Mrs Y moved into Carder’s Court Care Home. This was during the COVID-19 restrictions so meant family had to hand Mrs Y over at the door; they could not enter the home to help her settle in. Mrs Y was wearing a gold necklace. Mrs X says she asked if it was alright for Mrs Y to wear it and was told as it was not bothering Mrs Y it was fine. The staff member told Mrs X they would put it in the safe if Mrs Y became bothered by it. Mrs X did not sign anything and did not receive a contract. She says she didn’t know what to expect as she had never done this before.
10. Nearly three months later, Mrs Y was admitted to hospital and sadly died a few days later. When family collected her belongings from the home, they realised her necklace was missing and complained to the Care Provider.
11. The Care Provider said Mrs Y had not had the necklace in the home and went to show Mrs X the inventory. However, Mrs X spotted a photo of Mrs Y on the front of the file which showed her wearing the necklace.
12. The Care Provider responded to her complaint and said it had conducted a further full search of all areas within the home but had not found the necklace. It said it had exhausted all avenues of enquiry and was happy to seek further assistance from the Police. Mrs X was not happy with the Care Provider’s response and complained to us.
13. As the Care Provider was commissioned by the Council, we asked the Council for information. This included an inventory of Mrs Y’s belongings, the policy on resident’s valuables and details of advice given to Mrs X when Mrs Y moved to the home. It responded to our enquiries saying:
• It had been working with the Care Provider since receiving the complaint.
• The Care Provider was developing a new admission process and a new policy. The Council had also asked it to provide details of the arrangements it had put in place until the policy and process were complete and implemented.
• The Care Provider could not provide any of the information we asked for. However, the new admissions policy should address this by ensuring documents recording personal belongings and valuables are in place. It will also ensure it gives suitable information to family members in future.
• The Council’s quality assurance officer was visiting the Care Provider to review its current systems and documentation recording residents’ belongings.
• The Council had updated its specification for the residential care contracts which have recently been re-tendered. The specification now includes specific requirements relating to personal belongings.
• It understands the Care Provider is willing to offer a payment to Mrs X to recognise the mistakes it made.
14. I looked at the details added to the Council’s specification for care homes, and found the clauses added about personal belongings are detailed and thorough.

Was there fault which caused injustice?

15. The Care Provider has accepted and recognised faults which caused injustice to Mrs Y and her family. It should have had acceptable policies and procedures in place to protect its resident’s personal belongings and valuables. It should have listed Mrs Y’s belongings on admission. It should have also advised family of the contract terms and relevant policies which should have included information on personal belongings and valuables.
16. I am pleased to see the work the Council has since done with the Care Provider and the helpful change to its contract specification.

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Agreed action

17. When a council commissions another organisation to provide services on its behalf it remains responsible for those services and for the actions of the organisation providing them. So, although I found fault with the actions of the care provider, I made recommendations to the Council.
18. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified above, I recommended the Council:
• Apologise to Mrs X and her family.
• Arrange a written apology from the Care Provider.
• Pay Mrs X £500 to recognise the stress and financial loss caused to the family.
• Continue its work with the Care Provider to ensure the new policy and procedures are implemented effectively and that people are alerted to this on admission.
• Complete these actions within one month of my final decision and submit evidence of this. Suitable evidence would include a copy of the letters and confirmation of the payment. Also, a copy of the new policy and procedures.
19. The Council has agreed to these actions.

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Final decision

20. I have completed my investigation and uphold Mrs X’s complaints that the Care Provider:
• Lost Mrs Y’s gold chain
• Failed to inform the family of any policies on valuables in the care home.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman