Overview:

Key to names used

Mrs B The complainant

Mrs C Her mother

Summary

Mrs B complained about the care her mother received while she was resident at Paisley Lodge, a residential care home operated by Indigo Care Services Ltd using the trading name Orchard Care Homes. The placement was arranged and part-funded by the Council before Mrs C went on to self-fund for a time. Part of Mrs B’s complaint is also about charges made for care.

Finding

Fault found causing injustice and recommendations made.

Recommendations

The Council must consider the report and confirm within three months the action it has taken or proposes to take. The Council should consider the report at its full Council, Cabinet or other appropriately delegated committee of elected members and we will require evidence of this. (Local Government Act 1974, section 31(2), as amended)

The Council should also:

• apologise to Mrs B confirming it accepts the findings of this investigation;

• pay Mrs B £300 to recognise her distress, time and trouble;

• pay Mrs C’s estate £200 for her lost clothing (unless Mrs B can provide any receipts to show a greater value); and

• pay a refund to Mrs C’s estate of £173 a week for the time Mrs C entered the care home until 8 November 2020 less the nine weeks when this charge was not made (this is the difference between £796 and £623 a week).

The Care Provider should:

• apologise to Mrs B confirming it accepts the findings of this investigation;

• pay Mrs B £300 for her distress and inconvenience;

• ensure Mrs C’s estate receives a payment of £100 for the loss of her possessions on moving; and

• ensure Mrs C’s estate receives a refund of a minimum £33 a week for each week after 8 November 2020 for which the Care Provider charged for her care (the difference between £796 and £763 a week).

The Council should also end the practice of allowing care providers to enter contracts with clients (or their relatives) to make additional charges for care that run concurrently to contracts the Council has entered with the same care provider to provide the clients’ care at a lower cost.

The Care Provider should also review its standard terms and conditions to insert a clause that where it charges fees in lieu of a resident giving notice, those fees will be reduced in the event it re-lets the resident’s room within the period of that notice.

The Care Provider should also review its standard terms and conditions to remove or revise a clause that refers to a shortfall between the rate paid by the local authority and the Care Provider’s “full amount of charges”.

Ombudsman satisfied with Provider's response: 14 December 2022.

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