Service improvements

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023

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 - 5 of 5 cases with service improvements

Export results (CSV)

Downloads the current filtered list of service improvement decisions for Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council as a CSV file.

  • Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (22 009 152)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 10-Nov-2022

    Summary

    The Council is at fault as it delayed in complying with our agreed actions following the investigation of Mrs X and Ms Y’s previous complaint about the care of Mr Z. The Council is also at fault as it issued an apology to Ms Y which referred to Mr Z by the wrong name. The Council has agreed to apologise to Ms Y for the distress caused and has issued the payment agreed as a remedy for the previous complaint.

    Service improvements

    Ensures it asks complainants for payment details in good time to enable it to meet the agreed timescales for making payments recommended by the Ombudsman.

  • Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (22 005 023)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 20-Jan-2023

    Summary

    Miss B complained on her own behalf and that of her father, about delays in the Council completing adaptations to her father’s bathroom funded by a Disabled Facilities Grant. We upheld the complaint finding fault or service failure by the Council contributed to around eight months of delay to the works completing. This caused injustice to Miss B’s father as he lacked the modifications to improve his daily life. Miss B also suffered a separate injustice as distress due to this delay and some poor communications by the Council. The Council accepts these findings and at the end of this statement we set out the action it has agreed to remedy this injustice.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to discuss lessons from this complaint at a quarterly meeting where it reviews it adaptations service. This was to consider how it, and its partners, could further improve performance to ensure it met Government expectations on the timescales for DFG works to complete and to improve communications with landlords to prevent delays in obtaining landlord consent for works through lengthy exchanges of information.The Council will also complete the work of ensuring DFG applicants are kept informed of likely timescales at each stage of their journey through the process.

  • Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (21 012 428)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 31-Oct-2022

    Summary

    We found fault by the Practice and a care home acting on behalf of the Council with regards to how they managed Mrs H’s medication. We also found the care home failed to maintain appropriate hygiene standards at times. Although this fault did not have a significant impact on Mrs H’s care, it caused her son, Mr G, considerable confusion and distress. The Council and Practice will apologise to Mr G and take action to ensure similar problems do not occur in future.

    Service improvements

    Within two months of my final decision, the Council will write to the Ombudsmen to explain what action it will take to ensure the care home has:- a robust process in place for managing the medication of residents to ensure all medications are properly recorded and administered. This should include a process of audit and monitoring to promptly identify any omissions; and- a clear policy and protocol for maintaining hygiene standards in the care home to prevent the spread of infection. This should incude guidance for staff on laundering dirty clothes and ensuring residents are supported to maintain personal hygiene.

  • Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (21 010 602)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 29-May-2022

    Summary

    The Council is at fault at it failed to make reasonable adjustments to help Mr Z to complete his housing application and the care workers were late to Mr Z’s scheduled care calls which will have caused distress to him. The injustice to Mr Z cannot be remedied. The care provider is also at fault as it did not follow its procedure when Mr Z could not be contacted. This caused distress and uncertainty to Ms Y which the Council has agreed to remedy by apologising and making a payment of £250 to her.

    Service improvements

    Reviews its procedures to ensure the Council makes reasonable adjustments for housing applicants with disabilities and complies with its duty under the Equality Act 2010.Ensures the care provider reviews its procedures to retrieve care records from a service user’s property in the event they have passed awayBy training or other means, ensures the care provider’s staff are aware of its procedure in the event a service user cannot be contacted.

  • Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (21 006 247)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 28-Jul-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complains that the Council did not tell Mr P that his direct payment account was in arrears, and arrears were building up over years. Mr X says this caused Mr P unnecessary distress. We find the Council at fault, and this fault caused Mr P and Mr X injustice. The Council has agreed to apologise, make payments to Mr P and Mr X, and improve its service so this does not happen to anyone else in future.

    Service improvements

    the Council will review its policy on direct payments to make sure the person is notified directly, in writing, of arrears on their direct payment account so that action can be taken.the Council will review its policy on auditing direct payment accounts to make sure accounts are properly audited at least annually (including telling the person in writing if they are in arrears), and to make sure the Council takes action itself about arrears rather than allowing them to build up.the Council will share this decision with appropriate managers and within appropriate team meetings so that the learning here is shared amongst staff.

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings