Service improvements

Essex 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 - 6 of 6 cases with service improvements

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

  • Essex County Council (22 013 530)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 16-Mar-2023

    Summary

    We have not investigated most of Mrs X’s complaints about her relative Mrs Y’s care because there is not enough evidence of fault or they are late. We have upheld one complaint about Mrs Y’s footcare because the Care Home did not take adequate steps to liaise with the family to ensure Mrs Y had enough money to pay for the chiropodist. This meant she missed out on treatment for her toenails. The Council will apologise and take action described in this statement.

    Service improvements

    The Council will carry out a quality monitoring visit to ensure the arrangements for chiropody in the Care Home are working and that residents are all able to access chiropody where this is needed.

  • Essex County Council (22 011 140)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 21-Dec-2022

    Summary

    We will not investigate this complaint about deprivation of assets to avoid care charges. That is because we are satisfied with the action the Council has agreed to take.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to remind staff that when responding to complaints about deprivation of asset decisions, they should respond to points of dispute and set out reasons why the decision is upheld or not upheld.

  • Essex County Council (22 005 526)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 21-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Mr X complains about the care provided to his brother at home by Prompt Healthcare, along with damage to his property caused by the carers. We find fault with Prompt and have made recommendations to the Council for the injustice caused to Mr X.

    Service improvements

    The Council should check the action plan of the service provider which was agreed as a result of a safeguarding investigation, and report back to us on the quality monitoring visit. The Council should also ensure the service provider has a system in place to retain records from a service users home, and check the service providers policies around record storage and retention.

  • Essex County Council (21 016 639)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 05-Jan-2023

    Summary

    Ms X complained on behalf of her father, Mr Y, about the Council-commissioned home care provided to him at weekends. Ms X says the care provided at weekends was rushed and caused harm to Mr Y. We found fault by the Council and the Council has agreed to apologise to Mr Y and review the charges made by the care provider.

    Service improvements

    Remind Premier Care of the importance of accurately recording visit times and assure itself Premier Care is completing records accurately

  • Essex County Council (21 010 309)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 19-Apr-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council failed to clearly communicate or respond properly to his queries about the payment arrangements for his late mother, Mrs Y’s care. The Council was at fault. There were errors in communication around Mrs Y’s finances, delays in responding to his complaint, and it failed to keep Mr X updated about Mrs Y’s care. The Council has agreed to apologise and pay Mr X £200 to acknowledge the uncertainty and frustration this caused. It has agreed to review its procedures to prevent a recurrence of the faults.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to review its procedures to ensure it confirms in writing the Council’s position when a care home resident is required to pay a care home direct and the Council’s involvement in paying for care has ended.The Council has agreed to review its procedures to ensure it properly considers whether to exercise its discretion when a resident of a care home or their representative is a self funder and requests the Council’s assistance with arranging their care. It should confirm its decision in writing.The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that if an adult requests for their next of kin to be involved and updated on the outcome of a review/needs assessment, and there is no reason to doubt their capacity, this should be done in a timely manner.

  • Essex County Council (21 008 070)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 09-Oct-2022

    Summary

    Mr L complained about the way the Council supported his son, Mr X’s care needs. Mr L said the Council failed to meet Mr X’s care needs and failed to meet his, and his wife’s needs as carers. The Council delayed in assessing the care and support needs and failed to provide supported living when Mr and Mrs L said they could no longer care for Mr X. The Council agreed to arrange appropriate alternative accommodation for Mr X. It agreed to pay Mr X £500, and Mr and Mrs L £3,000 to recognise the distress and additional strain caused to them over a prolonged period as a result of the faults.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind staff of the timescales for reviews of care and support plans, at least every 12 months, and that when someone’s needs have changed, it must carry out a new needs assessment without delay.The Council will complete a final version of its amended adult social care practice forum guidance document and share it with relevant staff members.

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