Summary: Mrs A complains on behalf of her niece, Mrs B, that she was wrongly charged for care home fees. During our consideration of the complaint, the Council told us there had been an error on Mrs E’s account. The Council has apologised and offered to refund £2145 to Mrs B. This provides the remedy Mrs A is seeking and therefore we will not investigate the complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs A complains on behalf of her niece, Mrs B, that either the Council or Trust wrongly charged her £2145 for her mother, Mrs E’s, care home fees. Mrs A complains this meant Mrs B paid £2145 that she should not have done, because she had already paid the care provider directly for the period of care in question.
2. Mrs A says these events were very stressful and time-consuming for Mrs B.
3. As a result of her complaint, Mrs A wants Mrs B to be reimbursed £2145.

Back to top

The Ombudsmen’s role and powers

4. The Ombudsmen investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. We use the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. If there has been fault, the Ombudsmen consider whether it has caused injustice or hardship (Health Service Commissioners Act 1993, section 3(1) and Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended).
5. The Ombudsmen provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. They may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if they believe:

• it is unlikely they could add to any previous investigation by the bodies.

(Health Service Commissioners Act 1993, section 3(2) and Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. In considering this complaint, I spoke to Mrs A and read the information she sent us. I also considered information from the Council and the Trust.
7. I also considered comments I received from Mrs A on a draft version of this decision.

Back to top

My assessment

8. In November 2016, Mrs E moved into a care home. The placement was arranged by the Trust, but Mrs E was self-funding. Mrs A told us that Mrs B paid the fees to the care home directly. However, Mrs B later received a bill from the Council for the period of care from November 2016 to February 2017. Mrs A told us that Mrs B paid the bill because she was worried about what might happen if she did not do so.
9. In February 2017, Mrs A complained on behalf of Mrs B and Mrs E about the bill from the Council. She said that essentially, Mrs B had paid twice for the same period of care. Correspondence about funding arrangements continued between Mrs A, the Trust and Council for some time. Mrs A received a final response in September 2019, but she was dissatisfied with this and complained to the Ombudsman.
10. During my consideration of the complaint, I contacted the Trust and Council to seek clarification around the funding arrangements for Mrs E. In response, the Council established that it had previously been agreed that the charges for this period would be written off. However, the Council said there was then an error on Mrs E’s account, meaning this did not happen. The Council has now apologised and offered to refund Mrs B £2145.
11. As noted above, Mrs A complained about both the Trust and Council. I have not seen any indication of fault by the Trust based on the information I have seen.

Back to top

Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs A’s complaint about the Council and Trust. This is because the Council has offered to remedy the complaint by refunding Mrs B £2145, and I have seen no indications of fault by the Trust.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman