Gloucestershire County Council (23 010 792)

Statement Upheld Residential care 01-Apr-2024

Summary: Mrs X complained her mother, Mrs T, did not receive proper care at a care home run by The Orders of St John Care Trust which was arranged and paid for by the Council. Mrs X said the care provider did not properly respond to her complaint about the matter and gave confusing accounts. We found the care provider gave conflicting information which caused Mrs X distress. It has already provided an appropriate remedy.

Gloucestershire County Council (23 017 697)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 07-Apr-2024

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about delays in her child’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) annual review process and her disagreement with the content of her child’s EHC Plan. This is because she has a right of appeal to a tribunal about the content of the plan. The Council has apologised for the delays in the annual review process. If Ms X considers the delays mean her child has missed out on provisions, the tribunal can consider this as part of an appeal.

Gloucestershire County Council (23 017 870)

Statement Upheld Other 09-Apr-2024

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about Children Services’ actions. The Council has agreed to follow the Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure. It will also provide a financial remedy for the delay in accepting the complaint.

Gloucestershire County Council (23 014 851)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 17-Apr-2024

Summary: The Council failed to complete an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment within statutory timescales. This delay was, in part, due to a shortage of Educational Psychologists. The Council will make a symbolic payment to Mrs Y and D. The Council will also outline the service improvements it is taking to address the shortage of staff and backlog of cases.

Gloucestershire County Council (23 019 610)

Statement Upheld Residential care 13-May-2024

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care in a residential care home. This is because the Care Provider has accepted failings in service, apologised, and said the action it will take to improve service. It is unlikely an Ombudsman investigation would add to that investigation or lead to a different outcome.

Gloucestershire County Council (23 016 513)

Statement Upheld Charging 21-May-2024

Summary: Mr X complains the Council failed to deal properly with the charges for his late mother’s care. There was a long delay in completing his mother’s financial assessment. The Council apologised for not going ahead with the financial assessment in September 2021, but has not apologised in writing for the delay in rearranging it. The Council’s communications with Mr X about the charges for his mother’s care lacked clarity, which caused confusion. The Council needs to apologise to Mr X these failings. However, the Council has not charged as much as it could have done for his mother’s care, so there is no basis to ask it to waive any of the outstanding charges.

Gloucestershire County Council (23 015 666)

Statement Upheld Charging 16-Jun-2024

Summary: Mr X complained about how the Council calculated what his son, Mr Y, should pay towards his care. The Council was at fault. This meant Mr Y paid more for his care than he should have for over a year. The fault also caused Mr X and Mr Y’s mother, Mrs X, avoidable frustration. The Council will apologise to Mr and Mrs X, reimburse Mr Y the money he should not have paid towards his care and issue a staff reminder.

Gloucestershire County Council (23 013 963)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 18-Jun-2024

Summary: Mrs Y complains about delays in the Council’s assessments of her mother, Mrs Z, once she moved into a care home in 2022. In our view, there was delay in the allocation of a social worker and the subsequent care and support needs assessment. There was also some delay in completing the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard authorisation. The Council has already waived some of the care home fees. It will also apologise to Mrs Y in recognition of her time and trouble.

Gloucestershire County Council (23 012 707)

Statement Upheld Other 20-Jun-2024

Summary: Mrs X complained about contact restrictions between her relative Ms Y and Ms Y’s mother Mrs Z which the Council continued to impose after Ms Y left a care home. The Council was at fault for failing to clarify the nature of the restrictions and the actions needed to remove them. This caused Mrs X and Mrs Z frustration and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise and take action to prevent recurrence of the fault.

Gloucestershire County Council (23 018 058)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 03-Jul-2024

Summary: Mr X complains on behalf of his son, Y, the Council failed to obtain advice and information from an Educational Psychologist within the statutory timescales as part of the Education Health Care needs assessment. Mr X says this has caused his son and family distress. We have found fault in the actions of the Council for not completing the Education Health Care needs assessment or issuing Y’s Plan within the required statutory timescales. The Council has agreed to issue an apology and financial payment.