Summary: Mrs Y complained the Council placed her brother, Mr X, in unsuitable accommodation after he left hospital and did not provide proper care and support. She says this distressed him and caused medical problems. The Council was at fault. It delayed an accommodation referral, failed to deliver support and did not respond properly to complaints. The Council has agreed to apologise.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y says the Council placed Mr X in inappropriate care home accommodation after hospital discharge and did not give him correct care and support. She says this distressed him and he suffered medical issues.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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(1), as amended)
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have not investigated matters prior to August 2024, 12 months before Mrs Y complained to us. I have not investigated earlier events as Mrs Y could have complained about them earlier. This is a late complaint and there is not enough reason to accept those parts of it for investigation now. I reference events before August 2024 for context in this matter.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I read Mrs Y’s complaint and spoke to her about it on the phone.
7. I considered evidence provided by Mrs Y and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Mrs Y and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background Information

9. Sections 9 and 10 of the Care Act 2014 require councils to carry out an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support. They must provide an assessment to everyone regardless of their finances or whether the council thinks the person has eligible needs. The assessment must be of the adult’s needs and how they impact on their wellbeing and the results they want to achieve. It must also involve the individual and where suitable their carer or any other person they might want involved.
10. The Care Act 2014 gives councils a legal responsibility to provide a care and support plan (or a support plan for a carer). The care and support plan should consider what needs the person has, what they want to achieve, what they can do by themselves or with existing support and what care and support may be available in the local area. When preparing a care and support plan the council must involve any carer the adult has. The support plan must include a personal budget, which is the money the council has worked out it will cost to arrange the necessary care and support for that person.
11. Section 27 of the Care Act 2014 says councils should keep care and support plans under review. Government Care and Support Statutory Guidance says councils should review plans at least every 12 months. Councils should consider a light touch review six to eight weeks after agreeing and signing off the plan and personal budget. They should carry out reviews as quickly as is reasonably practicable in a timely manner proportionate to the needs to be met. Councils must also conduct a review if an adult or a person acting on the adult’s behalf makes a reasonable request for one.
12. The Council’s adult social care complaints policy has one stage and says once a complaint is received, the Council will contact the complainant to explain how it will investigate and the timescale for a response, which can be from 25 working days to a maximum of 65 working days.
13. Extra care housing consists of self-contained homes with additional support services to help residents live independently.

What happened

14. This is a summary of events, outlining key facts and does not cover everything that has occurred in this case,
15. In July 2023 Mr X left hospital following a stroke. The Council moved him temporarily to a care home for enablement therapy.
16. In August 2023 the Council assessed Mr X would require more intensive and longer term therapy. A month later the Council completed a Care Act assessment and support plan for Mr X and began looking at moving him to more suitable accommodation for his age and support needs.
17. In November 2023 Mr X said he wanted to move to another area, to be nearer his family for support. The Council agreed to try moving him to the area, run by Council B.
18. In January 2024 the Council moved Mr X to another care home in a less isolated location while it worked to move him to Council B’s area.
19. In May 2024 the Council began looking for accommodation in Council B’s area.
20. In August 2024, Mrs Y complained to the Council about Mr X living in inappropriate accommodation and not getting the care and support he needed.
21. In September 2024, the Council allocated a new social worker to support Mr X. The Council visited Mr X to review his care and support and started socialisation calls later that month to reduce his social isolation in the care home.
22. Mr X reported pain and swelling in his legs during the Council’s visit in September 2024. The Council spoke to the care home who raised the matter with the GP the following day.
23. The Council reviewed Mr X’s care and support in October 2024 and November 2024.
24. At the start of December 2024, the Council replied to Mrs Y’s complaint. The Council apologised for the delays in providing support for Mr X and progressing a move to the Council B area. The Council apologised and offered £500 for Mr X’s distress. Two days later the Council moved Mr X to a care home in Council B’s area while it tried to secure long term accommodation for him.
25. In January 2025 Mrs Y replied to the Council’s complaint response. She again queried the lack of support for Mr X and the delay in progressing the move to Council B’s area. She also disagreed with the Council’s financial offer.
26. In February 2025 the Council allocated a new social worker to support Mr X. The Council then referred Mr X to Council B for a move to extra care housing.
27. In March 2025, the Council replied to Mrs Y’s complaint follow up. It repeated the points in its complaint response and reiterated the offer of £500 for Mr X’s distress. Later that month the Council reviewed Mr X’s care and support.
28. The Council paid £500 to Mr X at the end of March 2025.
29. In April 2025 Council B added Mr X to its extra care waiting list. One month later Mr X started viewing extra care flats.
30. In May 2025 the Council reviewed Mr X’s care and support.
31. In June 2025 the Council requested socialisation calls for Mr X to support him in the care home. Mrs Y told the Council he was in hospital due to problems with his leg. The Council confirmed funding and an agency for the socialisation calls one month later.
32. Mrs Y was not satisfied with the Council’s actions and has asked the Ombudsman to investigate. She wanted the Council to apologise, meet Mr X’s care and support needs and compensate him for the impact on his health and well being
33. In September 2025 Mr X’s socialisation calls had not started. Mr X moved into an extra care flat in October 2025.
34. In response to my enquiries, the Council said Mr X’s move to more suitable housing had been delayed by lack of vacancies and it had provided the best available accommodation options in the meantime with care and support. It said Mr X had regular medical monitoring and his leg pain was managed and escalated for further medical support when needed.

My findings

Accommodation

35. As stated in paragraph 5, I am not investigating the Council’s accommodation arrangements for Mr X prior to August 2024.
36. The Council accepted care home accommodation was inappropriate for Mr X and was trying to move him to a more suitable property and location. I recognise the Council had very limited options for suitable accommodation due to Mr X’s age and care needs. The Council moved Mr X to Council B’s area in December 2024 so he could be nearer family while waiting for a move. The Council did not make an extra-care accommodation referral to Council B until nearly three months later in February 2025. This delay is fault. I cannot say Mr X would have moved to an extra care flat sooner if the Council had made the referral earlier. However, the delay created uncertainty for Mr X over whether he could have been rehoused sooner.

Care and support

37. Paragraphs 9 to 10 say the Council had a duty to assess Mr X’s care and support needs and put a care plan in place if needed. Paragraph 11 says the Council should regularly review Mr X’s care plan. The Council had a care plan in place for Mr X and reviewed his care and support in September 2024, October 2024, November 2024, March 2025 and May 2025.
38. I recognise Mr X’s medical issues and hospital admissions distressed him and his family. However, the Council regularly reviewed Mr X’s care and support and medical monitoring was in place and escalated when necessary. I cannot say Mr X’s medical issues and hospital admissions occurred due to a lack of proper care and support by the Council. The Council was not at fault.
39. The Council accepted care home accommodation was unsuitable for Mr X and arranged socialisation calls from September 2024 to help reduce his social isolation. The Council did not continue the socialisation calls when Mr X moved to a care home in Council B’s area in December 2024. The Council did not start arranging any new socialisation calls for Mr X until June 2025 and calls were still not in place by September 2025 when Mr X was offered an extra care flat. The Council failed to provide socialisation calls for Mr X from December 2024 after moving to Council B’s area. This was fault, distressing Mr X.

Complaint handling

40. Paragraph 12 shows the Council should respond to an adult social care complaint by contacting the complainant to explain how it will investigate and confirm a response timescale of somewhere between 25 to 65 working days. Mrs Y complained in August 2024. The Council did not contact Mrs Y to explain how it would investigate her complaint or provide a timescale for responding. It did not respond until December 2024, a delay of between one to seven weeks . This was fault, frustrating Mrs Y.

Action

41. To remedy the outstanding injustice caused to Mr X and Mrs Y by the faults I have identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within 4 weeks of my final decision:

• Apologise to Mr X and Mrs Y for the uncertainty caused by the extra care referral delay, the distress caused by failing to put socialisation calls in place and the frustration caused by delays in the complaint handling. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.

42. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

43. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault by the Council, which caused injustice to Mr X and Mrs Y.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman