Service improvements

Cornwall Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2027

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 61 - 70 of 71 cases with service improvements

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

  • Cornwall Council (21 012 231)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 07-Aug-2022

    Summary

    Mrs X complains the Council has failed to meet her daughter’s assessed need to attend day services since they were allowed to reopen in 2020, which has caused her avoidable distress. The Council delayed in reviewing her daughter’s needs, then failed to review them properly and provided misleading and inaccurate information to her and her MP. This caused unnecessary distress to Mrs X and left her daughter without the support she had been assessed as needing. The Council needs to review the daughter’s needs, apologise, and pay financial redress.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to take action to ensure:a)it reviews people’s needs at least every 12 months; b)provides people with copies of reviews, assessments and care and support plans; andc)officers provide accurate information when responding to complaints.

  • Cornwall Council (21 007 240)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 12-May-2022

    Summary

    Mr D complained the Council failed to properly support his grandson when he transitioned from children’s services to adult care services. He also says the Council failed to give him information about his grandson’s wellbeing. We find the Council delayed assessing Mr D’s grandson. It also should have done more to explore what information it could share with Mr D. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they are aware they must start assessments in good time and without unnecessary delay to ensure a smooth transition from children’s services to adult care services.The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they are aware they should explore with the service user whether they wish for their family to be involved in a Care Act 2014 assessment. Staff should properly document any decisions on this.

  • Cornwall Council (20 008 743)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 30-Jun-2022

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the way the Council dealt with a major adaptation and disabled facilities grant. She said it bullied her into having an extension she did not want, and she could not use the shower or heating for three years. She says this caused her great heartache and pain and spoiled her husband’s plans to die in the room they had built. We find the Council caused Mrs X inconvenience and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise, pay Mrs X £500, and take action to put right the outstanding issues including consulting with an independent heating engineer and an independent occupational therapist. It will also take action to prevent similar problems in future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to ensure specialist advice is sought for adaptations for people with disabilities such as sight loss in future.The Council has agreed to ensure it communicates with people in an accessible format. When, exceptionally, it is unable to do this, it should speak to the person about how best to do this and make a record of the conversation.

  • Cornwall Council (21 004 525)

    Category: Education Date: 07-Mar-2022

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council failed to ensure her son, B, received suitable educational provision from October 2020 when he became too unwell to attend school. The Council has largely accepted it was at fault and has offered several remedies, which we find mainly remedy the injustice caused to Ms X and her son, B, who missed out on educational provision. We also find the Council at fault for taking a restrictive view of B’s individual circumstances, which focused on the provision of medical evidence before arranging alternative provision for B. To remedy this, the Council has agreed to apologise to Ms X and make several service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to take the following action • review its guidance to staff on when its Section 19 duty is triggered to ensure the recommendations in the Ombudsman’s focus report above are reflected in this. The Council should consider including guidance on our recommendation that councils should choose, based on all the evidence, whether to enforce attendance or provide the child with suitable alternative education; and, • share this decision with relevant staff members.

  • Cornwall Council (20 009 975)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 21-Jun-2021

    Summary

    The Council delayed completing a financial assessment to decide what Mrs C should pay towards her residential care fees. The Council’s delay meant Mrs C accrued a large debt, it was a shock to receive an invoice for over £23,000 having never been in debt in her life. The Council delayed dealing with the complaint. Mrs C wants the Council to waive the debt, but this is a debt for which she is liable, The Council will offer Mrs C a reasonable repayment plan. The Council will apologise for its delay, pay £200 each to Mrs C and Mr B, and improve its procedures.

    Service improvements

    Remind relevant finance staff to send tailored letters where there is any failure in the Council’s service. And specifically, where there is a delay in financial assessment which leads to arrears accruing. In these circumstances the Council should ensure to apologise for its delay and offer repayment by instalments. I note the invoice has a box called ‘Payment Terms: (if not standard 28 days).’ This was left blank, but something could have been inserted here regarding agreeing a repayment plan.Review the process for sending cheques to find a way to also send a covering letter when necessary. In this case a letter could have been generated and sent in advance of the cheque so she would have been expecting it and would understand what it was for. Therefore, the Council may need to remind relevant staff to take this action where necessary.

  • Cornwall Council (20 006 368)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 30-Sep-2021

    Summary

    Mrs X complains that her mother was neglected in a care home. She says this caused her mother to become malnourished, dehydrated resulting in an acute kidney injury, and depressed. Mrs X also complains that the Care Provider did not respond appropriately when she complained. The Ombudsman finds fault causing injustice to Mrs X and her mother. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and make a payment to reflect the injustice caused. The Council has also agreed to make improvements to its service and the Care Provider’s service.

    Service improvements

    the Council will remind the Care Provider, including management, about the need to respond to complaints in line with its complaints policy.the Council will help the Care Provider to draw up a policy which clearly states how the Care Provider will deal with residents who refuse fluid/nutrition, including residents who lack capacity.the Council will ensure the Care Provider reviews its practice to make sure GPs have more timely and regular involvement if there are concerns with residents refusing to eat and drink.the Council will remind the Care Provider to keep proper records of discussions with residents and family members about any concerns.the Council will review its Commissioned Provider Complaints Policy so the Council is aware of complaints made about commissioned providers and has the ability to review those complaint responses if it wishes.

  • Cornwall Council (20 005 073)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 10-Sep-2021

    Summary

    Ms X complains on behalf of Ms Y in her capacity as Mrs Z’s court appointed deputy for property and financial affairs. Ms X complains the Council did not include deputyship fees in Mrs Z’s financial assessment as an allowable expense and it intended to take Ms Z’s capital below that allowed in statutory guidance to clear a debt she owed to the Council. We found fault in the way the Council decided to recover the debt from Mrs Z, calculated her financial assessment and failed to consider the deputyship fees as an allowable expense. These faults caused Mrs Z an injustice which cannot be remedied as she has since died. The Council accepts our recommendations it should make changes to its charging policy when considering requests for including deputyship fees in financial assessments.

    Service improvements

    The Council to review its charging policy so it is clear on its position to allow deputyship fees in certain circumstances.The Council to review all other cases involving deputyship fees in the last 12 months in the light of my findings and reassess charges where necessary.

  • Cornwall Council (20 001 453)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 07-Sep-2021

    Summary

    The Council has delayed meeting Ms C’s adult social care needs, and Mr B’s needs as a carer. The Council’s communication has been poor. Mr B supports Ms C, but this has a negative impact on their relationship, causing stress and anxiety. Mr B has had time and trouble chasing the Council for information and clarity and feels unsupported. The Council will apologise, make acknowledgement payments to Mr B and Ms C, complete Ms C’s care and support review or reassessment without further delay, and remind staff of the importance of clear communication and chasing referrals.

    Service improvements

    Remind relevant adult social care staff of the importance of clear communication and being open and transparent with customers. Remind relevant staff of the importance of having an oversight of work that is contracted out and chasing where necessary to ensure completion. The Council should ensure it has adequate systems in place to achieve this. If it doesn’t already the Council should gain consent to contact relevant professionals/agencies to support the assessment and care planning process.

  • Cornwall Council (17 016 736)

    Category: Education Date: 23-Jan-2019

    Summary

    Miss X complains the Council has failed to provide her son with a suitable full time education since he was excluded from Primary School in October 2015. She says there were delays in the Council assessing her son’s educational needs and it sent him to a school some distance away and failed to provide help with transport costs.

    Service improvements

    The Council should produce guidance for its children’s services and education departmentsregarding information sharing and responsibilities around children with specialeducational needs and children who are either out of education or notreceiving full time educationThe Council should amend its guidance on children eligible for an Education Health and Care Plan assessment to ensurethese are lawful and in line with the legislation, guidance and case law. TheCouncil should also ensure any guidance makes it clear that it is prepared todepart from its own criteria where there is a compelling reason to do so.

  • Cornwall Council (17 005 652)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 31-Aug-2018

    Summary

    Mrs C complains on her son’s (Mr B) behalf that social services staff left him in a tent and a static caravan for several weeks in the summer of 2016 when he was addicted to drugs and homeless aged 17, without properly assessing if he could make decisions about his own safety. She complains this put him at risk and worsened his already poor mental health.

    Service improvements

    To review its policies and procedures for accommodating homeless 16 and 17 year-olds to comply with statutory guidance and to ensure bed and breakfast accommodation, static caravans and tents are never considered suitable. It should ensure that where homeless young people refuse accommodation, it considers if there is any reason why it should not treat their wishes as definitive rather than assuming so. It should also record the reason for its decision to accept the young person's refusal.To draw up an action plan to ensure there is sufficient suitable accommodation for homeless young people in Cornwall.To arrange staff training for those who work with homeless young people to ensure they are aware bed and breakfast accommodation, static caravans and tents are never suitable accommodation for homeless 16 and 17 year-olds.To arrange staff training to ensure there is a proper recorded decision about possible risk of significant harm in all cases where the Council receives a safeguarding referral involving any child or young person under 18, including reports of child sexual exploitation.

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