London Borough of Islington (24 009 076)

Statement Upheld Residential care 19-Dec-2025

Summary: On behalf of Mrs X, Mr Y complained about the communication, staff conduct, and quality of care provided by a Care Home commissioned by the Council. Mr Y also complained the Council’s safeguarding investigation did not fully address his concerns. We found the Council took too long to complete its safeguarding investigation. We also found the Council at fault for not considering Mr Y’s concerns in full as part of its safeguarding investigation. This caused avoidable frustration, distress and uncertainty. We also believe Mrs X was exposed to the avoidable risk of harm due to the Council’s faults. The Council has already taken some action to address concerns about the Care Home. To address the remaining injustice, the Council has agreed to apologise and pay a symbolic financial remedy to Mrs X. The Council has also agreed to review the faults identified and confirm to the Ombudsman what action it will take to prevent recurrence.

Cambridgeshire County Council (24 021 792)

Statement Upheld Residential care 17-Dec-2025

Summary: The Council’s commissioned care provider failed to provide a good standard of care for the late Mrs X, failed to keep proper records in accordance with the regulations and did not provide her nutrition in accordance with the hospital discharge instructions. The Council agrees to recognise the considerable distress caused to Ms B and her family by the care provider’s failings.

Danforth Care No. 1 Limited (25 004 224)

Statement Upheld Residential care 16-Dec-2025

Summary: Ms X complained about poor service during her respite stay at Heatherton House, and the care provider’s failure to escalate her concerns. She left early due to the undue distress caused. Ms X received a partial refund for the unused days since making the complaint to us. The evidence shows there was fault in the service, which the care provider acknowledged in its stage 1 response. Following our enquiries, the care provider offered a full refund for the whole stay, which is an appropriate outcome.

Hertfordshire County Council (25 011 044)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Residential care 16-Dec-2025

Summary: We will not investigate a complaint about a failure to tell a woman’s family when she died. Services provided coherent explanations for why they did not contact anyone. It is unlikely that an investigation would be able to find evidence of fault.

Laburnum House (Shaw) Limited (25 011 016)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Residential care 15-Dec-2025

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Care Provider failing to return his late father, Mr Y’s, money and about it breaching its contract. This is because the complaint is late and we would not be able to achieve the outcome Mr X wants.

Borough Care Ltd (25 002 861)

Statement Upheld Residential care 12-Dec-2025

Summary: The Care Provider was at fault for not maintaining Y’s personal hygiene and for delaying its response to Mr X’s concerns about the matter. The Care Provider further failed to keep adequate records about the issue. It also failed to record how it assessed Y’s capacity when obtaining consent to use Y’s photograph for promotional purposes. The Care Provider agreed to apologise to Y to acknowledge the injustice these faults caused. It agreed to also carry out service improvements to improve its record keeping. There was no fault in the Care Provider’s accounting system or how it invoiced Y’s care fees.

James Hudson (Builders) Limited (25 010 314)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Residential care 10-Dec-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the standard of care in a care home up to December 2023. There is not a good reason for the delay in the matter being escalated to us. In any event, we could not achieve the outcome Ms X seeks. The Information Commissioner is best placed to consider Ms X’s request for information in 2025.

Berkley Care Blenheim Limited (25 000 452)

Statement Upheld Residential care 08-Dec-2025

Summary: There was fault in the quality of care provided to Mr X’s late grandfather Mr Y by the care home. It failed to carry out a thorough pre-assessment, delayed taking action when Mr Y’s food and fluid intake reduced and failed to properly assess and respond to Mr Y’s risk of falls. It also delayed billing Mr X. The care provider has agreed to apologise to Mr X for the distress and uncertainty this caused and confirm it has cancelled the bill. It has already taken action to prevent recurrence of the faults.

Leicestershire County Council (25 005 913)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Residential care 05-Dec-2025

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about her mother’s care and treatment during September and October 2022. This is because a significant amount of time has passed since the events Miss X is complaining about occurred and it would have been reasonable for Miss X to complain to us sooner.

Sheffield City Council (24 019 982)

Statement Upheld Residential care 05-Dec-2025

Summary: There was significant fault on the part of the Council’s commissioned care provider which caused considerable injustice to the late Mr X. The Council has acknowledged the failings by the care provider and overseen service improvements and will now make a payment to acknowledge the distress and anxiety caused to Mr X’s sister Mrs Y.