Service improvements

Kent County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025

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 - 7 of 7 cases with service improvements

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

  • Kent County Council (24 006 616)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 24-Jan-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained about how the Council carried out a financial assessment in respect of his mother, Mrs Y’s, care home placement. There was fault in how the Council carried out Mrs Y’s financial assessment and how it responded to Mr X’s complaint. This caused Mr X avoidable distress for which the Council agreed to apologise and pay a financial remedy. It also agreed to review when it refers people for financial assessments and arrange a briefing for staff on costs of disregarded properties.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to review its process for referring people for a financial assessment. It should ensure, whenever possible, that people have the necessary information about the contribution they will be expected to pay towards their care before they need to make decisions about the care they want.The Council agreed to provide a briefing to its financial assessment staff and practitioners about how the Council should consider allowances for costs to people of their disregarded properties. This should include the relevant rules, guidance and Council policy.

  • Kent County Council (24 005 179)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 18-Feb-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained about the standard of care her son (Mr Y) received between August 2023 and May 2024 in a Care Home which was council commissioned. She also complained the Council delayed completing the subsequent safeguarding investigation and failed to involve her in this process. The Council was at fault as the safeguarding investigation found the Care Home failed to provide Mr Y with a healthy diet and adequately record Mr Y’s care. The investigation also found the Care Home made inappropriate comments after giving Mr Y first aid. The Council delayed completing the safeguarding investigation however it did involve Ms X throughout. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to acknowledge the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council was at fault because a safeguarding investigation found a council commissioned Care Home failed to provide a resident with a healthy diet and adequately record their care. The investigation also found the Care Home made inappropriate comments after giving the person first aid. The Council delayed completing the safeguarding investigation. The Council has created an action plan to monitor the concerns raised. It will update the action plan and provide the Ombudsman with evidence of the Care Home’s progress with this.The Council will carry out an unannounced visit to the Care Home and provide the Ombudsman with its report on this.

  • Kent County Council (24 004 188)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 15-Jan-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to properly consider a disability related expenditure claim for her son, Mr Y. We have found fault in the Council’s actions. We agree with its recent change of mind which said it should have considered the circumstances of the claim more carefully when it made its original decision. This caused avoidable distress and frustration for Miss X and meant Mr Y was expected to pay towards his care and support for a period where he should not have done. To remedy the injustice caused by this fault, the Council has agreed to complete its suggested remedy of an apology and symbolic payment to the family.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant officers and managers of the need to act promptly in fulfilling a remedy it has already agreed with a complainant. This will help to ensure that matters are quickly brought to a close and lessen the likelihood of further distress and inconvenience to the complainant.

  • Kent County Council (23 021 125)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 01-Nov-2024

    Summary

    Mrs D complained the Council delayed providing her son with an assisted living placement. She also complained the Council failed to provide her with support in setting up direct payments and it did not provide her with respite care. We find the Council was at fault for its delays in exploring an assisted living placement for Mrs D’s son. 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 progress a service user’s request for an assisted living placement without undue delay.

  • Kent County Council (23 018 857)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 23-Oct-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to properly consider her hidden disabilities when refusing her Blue Badge application. We found the Council to be at fault because it did not use the relevant assessment tool when making its initial decision. However, the personal injustice to Mrs X was limited because the Council corrected this mistake at the review stage. The Council has agreed with out recommendation to apologise to Mrs X and review its practices.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its assessment procedures to ensure all Blue Badge applications involving a hidden disability are assessed using the relevant assessment tool at both the initial application and review stages of the process.

  • Kent County Council (23 014 261)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 29-Jul-2024

    Summary

    Mrs B complains the Council did not tell her she would need to inform it if she started receiving a personal independence payment when a Council social worker helped her make an application. The Council accepts it knew about the award and should not have backdated charges. The Council has offered a satisfactory remedy which involves an apology, cancelling the backdated charges, payment to Mrs B and reminder to officers.

    Service improvements

    The Council will send a reminder to staff in adult social care. That will cover the need to recognise what constitutes a financial change of circumstances for those who are receiving a chargeable service and the need to tell the service user a financial change in circumstances may result in a change to their assessed charge.The Council agreed to send a reminder to its adult social care teams to ensure information is shared with the financial assessment team to prevent any unnecessary debt.The Council agreed to send a reminder to those dealing with complaints about the importance of considering all the concerns and offering a resolution at an early stage.

  • Kent County Council (23 010 994)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 18-Apr-2024

    Summary

    Miss X complains the Council has not provided her mother, Mrs Y, with the care set out in her care plan. Miss X says the Council failed to adjust the care plan or the charges made once they pointed out Mrs Y was receiving less than her specified hours. I have found the Council at fault for failing to reduce Mrs Y’s care package in June 2022. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs Y and Miss X, backdates the charges, makes a symbolic payment and service improvements to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council will consider how it can improve communication between the finance team and adult social care team,with a view to prevent a similar situation arising again.The Council will produce guidance for staff about managing debt for vulnerable adults.

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