Ombudsman publishes rare critical finding against London care provider

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has published a rare public notice against a Wembley care provider, after it refused to put things right for the son of a woman in its care.

The man complained about the homecare services provided to his mother by Peepal Care Limited. The Ombudsman’s investigation found the provider at fault and made recommendations to remedy the situation, including apologising to the man.

The provider has refused to do this so the Ombudsman has published an Adverse Findings Notice.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

“We publish reports such as this in exceptional circumstances, only if a care provider refuses to carry out our recommendations. In this case, I asked Peepal Care Ltd simply to apologise to the man and pay him £300 for the distress its actions caused.

“For as long as we have been investigating complaints about care providers we have been encouraging them to have an open and mature attitude to complaints. Indeed, how an organisation deals with complaints says a lot about its culture, so it is particularly disappointing to see this provider leave the complainant without a remedy to put things right.

“I now call on Peepal Care Ltd to acknowledge what went wrong for this family, and provide the remedy I have recommended.”



The Ombudsman’s investigation found the care provider did not do enough to involve the man in identifying new care workers for his mother when she needed a new carer, and did not carry out a handover between previous and new care workers. It also did not ensure the care worker followed its own staff manual after the man’s mother had a fall.

This meant the mother did not receive all the support she needed, and there was a three day delay admitting her to the hospital after the fall. As a result, the son suffered distress.

The Ombudsman investigates complaints about all registered adult care services, regardless of whether that care is provided by a council or paid for privately.

An Adverse Findings Notice is the final stage of an investigation into a privately-run care provider. It is issued to hold the provider publicly to account for its actions when it has refused to comply with the Ombudsman’s recommendations to put things right. It is rare that such a step is required, with only one notice issued across the whole of England in 2016-17.

Details of the investigation have been passed to health and care regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Article date: 21 September 2017

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