Summary: The Council was not at fault for how a care home, which was providing care to Miss B on the Council’s behalf, told her about potential charges and arranged the payment of an invoice. There was also no fault in how the Council considered her carer’s complaint about these matters.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Miss B, stayed in a care home for 20 weeks after being discharged from hospital in 2021. Her current carer, whom I refer to as Mr Y, makes the complaint on her behalf.
2. Mr Y says:
• The care home failed to provide Miss B with information about how it would charge for additional services such as hairdressing. It then charged her for those services. She only found out about the charges afterwards.
• The care home took £109 out of Miss B’s bank account without her knowledge. She does not know what it was for, did not agree to it in advance and was not provided with an invoice or a receipt.
• When Mr Y made a complaint to the Council about these (and other) matters, it failed to investigate them properly. It refused to speak to third parties whom
  Mr Y had said could support the complaint.
3. Mr Y also says Miss B’s glasses and house keys went missing while she was staying at the care home. He believes staff at the care home stole them. He also believes staff at the care home stole Miss B’s debit card to make the £109 payment referred to in his complaint.

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What I have and have not investigated

4. I have investigated the three points of complaint summarised in the bullet points above.
5. I have not investigated the complaint about Miss B’s glasses or house keys going missing. These matters did not cause her an injustice significant enough to justify an Ombudsman investigation.
6. I have not investigated any of Mr Y’s allegations about criminal behaviour by care home staff. These are a matter for the Police, not the Ombudsman.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

7. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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)
8. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or if there is another body better placed to consider the complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered information from Mr Y and the Council. Both had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

What happened?

10. When Miss B went into the care home in mid-2021, she signed a terms and conditions form. The form said, “The resident shall provide from their own resources and or personal allowance … hairdressing [and] Private Chiropody”.
11. In November 2021, the care home issued an invoice for three chiropody sessions and four haircuts, dating back to July. The invoice was itemised and came to £109.
12. Miss B’s bank statement says a debit card payment of £109 was made to the care home two days later. The care home told the Council that Miss B made the card payment herself over the telephone, in the manager’s office, with the manager present.
13. Mr Y complained to the Council in April 2022. He set out the complaint, as summarised in the opening section of this decision statement. He told the Council that the Ambulance Service and a local carpet-fitting company could corroborate the complaint about Miss B’s missing keys.
14. The Council did not speak to either the Ambulance Service or the carpet-fitting company. It did speak to the care home, which provided information about how Miss B paid her invoice in November 2021. The care home also provided a copy of its terms and conditions document, signed by Miss B.
15. The Council did not uphold the complaint, and, although Mr Y asked for a review, it did not change its decision.

My findings

16. As Miss B signed a terms and conditions form on arriving at the care home which said she would pay for chiropody and hairdressing, and as I have no reason to doubt her capacity to understand such a document, I cannot say the care home failed to provide her with information about potential charges.
17. Although Mr Y says Miss B had no idea what the £109 payment was for or how the care home got the money from her account, the evidence suggests she paid this invoice – which was fully itemised – herself with her debit card.
18. The Council answered all of Mr Y’s points of complaint. Given that I do not consider Miss B’s missing keys to have caused her a significant injustice, I do not agree with Mr Y that it would have been proportionate for the Council to have made enquiries of the third parties he named. In any event, it is not entirely clear how doing so would have supported his complaint.
19. For the reasons given above, I have found no fault with the Council.

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Final decision

20. The Council was not at fault for how the care home, which was providing care on the Council’s behalf, behaved towards Miss B.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman