Service improvements

West Northamptonshire Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026

Find out more about service improvements

When we find fault, we can recommend improvements to systems and processes where they haven’t worked properly, so that others do not suffer from these same problems in future. Common examples are policy changes; procedural reviews; and staff training. Service improvements from decisions are published for 5 years and those from reports are published for 10 years.

Showing 1 - 4 of 4 cases with service improvements

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Downloads the current filtered list of service improvement decisions for West Northamptonshire Council as a CSV file.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (24 015 710)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 20-Oct-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained about a failure to complete a s117 aftercare plan before she left hospital or after she returned home. We found fault that a council and an NHS trust did not complete a s117 aftercare plan. This caused Ms X stress and frustration which is an injustice. Further, we found fault in the way the Trust handled Ms X’s complaint which caused more injustice. The council and NHS trust agreed to apologise, take corrective action and make financial payments to address the injustice.

    Service improvements

    In this complaint a woman who had been detained under section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983 was discharged without a s117 aftercare plan. Further, neither the Council nor the Trust told the ICB of the woman's eligibility for s117. And, no organisation completed a s117 aftercare plan in the community. We found this was all fault. We asked the Council to review the case - either on its own or in collaboration with its NHS partners - as a learning tool, with a view to making specific, measurable andrealistic service improvements.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (24 013 887)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 24-Jun-2025

    Summary

    The Council delayed informing Mr D of the outcome of his financial assessment and delayed sending him an invoice. This was fault. The Council has agreed to apologise, cancel the invoice and carry out a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    •Remind relevant officers of the importance of carrying out the financial assessment and informing the person of the outcome of the assessment as soon as possible and preferably at the same time as the care plan is being decided.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (24 012 531)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 07-Jul-2025

    Summary

    Mr Y complained about the way the Council charged for the domestic care services delivered to his father-in-law, Mr X. We found fault in the way the Council charged Mr X. The Council failed to provide information on its charging and to send documents following Mr X’s care needs assessment. The Council also significantly delayed Mr X’s financial assessment. The Council’s fault caused injustice to Mr X as he was not aware he would be charged for his care and how much he would need to pay. The Council has agreed to apologise and waive some of Mr X’s care charges. It has also agreed to carry out some service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review process of arranging care needs assessments and preparing support plans to ensure social workers:a) provide comprehensive information on the Council’s rules for charging early in the process and during the care assessment at the latest;b) after completing care needs assessments and support plans send them to the residents.The Council will review timeliness of financial assessments to ensure they are concluded and sent to the residents with relevant advice before the Council starts charging for care services.

  • West Northamptonshire Council (24 006 399)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 31-Jul-2025

    Summary

    Mr Y complained about how the Council reviewed his mother, Mrs X’s, care and support needs. There were some delays in reviews of Mrs X’s care needs and the Council communicated with Mr Y poorly at times. This caused Mr Y some avoidable frustration for which the Council agreed to apologise. The Council also agreed issue a reminder to its staff about the need for clear communication.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to remind its adult social care staff about the importance of clear communication, especially with members of the public who are less familiar with the adult social care system.

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