Service improvements

Durham County 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 - 3 of 3 cases with service improvements

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

  • Durham County Council (22 008 257)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 10-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Mrs T complained the Council said her mother, Mrs X, would not have to pay for her stay in a care home. Mrs T stated the Council completed a financial assessment a year later and charged Mrs X retrospectively. Mrs T said the Council failed to consider if Mrs X could afford to pay the charges. The Council failed to conduct a financial assessment in line with the statutory guidance and failed to tell Mrs T about Mrs X’s contributions for eleven months. The Council agreed to write off the charges until the date of the financial assessment and apologise to Mrs T for the distress it caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council will ensure it tells relevant officers to provide information leaflets on charging to people receiving adult social care at the earliest opportunity, even where a financial assessment will be delayed.

  • Durham County Council (22 005 552)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 10-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Mr X complained about a lack of guidance and information from the Council about the charges for his late mother’s care at a care home. The Council was at fault for the delay in providing information about care charges and in carrying out a financial assessment. This meant Mr X received a large and unexpected care bill and Mrs Y was unable to make an informed decision about her care. The Council has agreed to apologise and write off some of the care charges. It has also agreed to ensure financial information is provided to care home residents at the point of assessment.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to ensure clear information, in writing, is provided about the potential for future care charges by the Council’s hospital based social workers when patients are discharged into residential care from hospital.The Council has agreed to ensure the factsheet on charging for residential care is provided at the same time as the Council carries out a needs assessment for residential care so that people are made aware of the potential charges as soon as possible.

  • Durham County Council (21 019 049)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 24-Nov-2022

    Summary

    Mrs X complained on behalf of Mr Y about how the Council handled Mr Y’s care charges. There was fault by the Council in how it delayed changing and informing Mrs X about Mr Y’s increased contributions. The Council also failed to explain Mr Y’s revised charges to Mrs X in a timely manner. This caused Mrs X uncertainty, confusion and the time and trouble chasing and complaining to the Council. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to:•provide the Ombudsman with evidence of the Council’s implementation of its new online financial assessments after its introduction in April 2023 (next financial year)•provide the Ombudsman with an explanation and evidence of how the Council will monitor the performance of its new online financial assessment process to ensure service users are notified of any changes in their care fees contributions in a timely manner.

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