Service improvements

London Borough of Lewisham

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 - 10 of 22 cases with service improvements

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Downloads the current filtered list of service improvement decisions for London Borough of Lewisham as a CSV file.

  • London Borough of Lewisham (24 012 524)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 20-Mar-2025

    Summary

    The Council failed to properly assess Mr Y’s care and support needs in accordance with legislation. It also failed to properly consider his mother’s needs as a carer in accordance with legislation. Consequently, both Mr Y and his mother have likely missed out on services to which they were both entitled and from which they would have derived benefit. We have made recommendations to address this.

    Service improvements

    The Council will consider any training needs of officers completing or overseeing needs assessments under the Care Act.

  • London Borough of Lewisham (24 010 072)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 26-Feb-2025

    Summary

    Miss B complained the Council did not respond when she asked it to change how she received care and support, so she could receive a direct payment to employ a personal assistant. We upheld her complaint, finding the Council failed to undertake a timely review of Miss B’s care and support plan despite having several opportunities to do so. We also found when Miss B complained, the Council wrongly said she was not co-operative with her care. These faults resulted in Miss B not receiving care better suited to meet her needs and caused unnecessary distress. The Council has accepted these findings. To remedy Miss B’s injustice, it has agreed to apologise, provide her with a symbolic payment and an updated care and support plan. It will also carry out a learning exercise to understand why it did not carry out the care and support review sooner.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to undertake a learning exercise, to understand why it had not reviewed the complainant's care and support plan for over 12 months despite scheduling one after eight weeks and receiving multiple contacts subsequently from the complainant saying the care they received was not meeting their needs and they wanted change. The Council agreed to consider if any systemic problems caused this failing. It agreed to write to us and let us know what the learning exercise found and to explain any changes it would be making to its processes or procedures as a result.

  • London Borough of Lewisham (24 009 746)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 17-Feb-2025

    Summary

    We completed our investigation. The Council was at fault for failing to provide X with personal care at home, following their discharge from hospital. X suffered avoidable distress for one month. The Council will apologise to X, make a symbolic payment to them and review its procedures.

    Service improvements

    Share learning from this decision with the teams involved in organising X’s care in August and September 2023.Review the procedure in place between the relevant NHS team/s and the Council regarding arranging discharge care for patients with social care needs who are leaving hospital.Ensure the review considers the out of hours procedure in place between the hospital social work team and the Council to ensure discharge care for patients discharged outside normal office hours is organised properly.Ensure the review considers the procedure to be followed when discharging a patient to an address outside of the Council’s area.

  • London Borough of Lewisham (24 009 745)

    Category: Housing Date: 24-Feb-2025

    Summary

    We have completed our investigation. There was fault by the Council. The Council left Mrs X and her child in unsuitable accommodation for five months. It failed to properly respond to her complaint and to pay due regard to article 8 of her human rights. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to Mrs X. It will also review its approach to unsuitable temporary accommodation and provide its staff with training.

    Service improvements

    Share findings from this investigation with the appropriate homelessness and housing teams. Ensure learning is disseminated properly amongst staff.Reiterate good practice with homelessness and housing teams about responding to disclosures of domestic abuse. Review how and when DASH risk assessments are completed, reminding staff of the importance of understanding the dynamic risk to victims posed by domestic abuse.Decide how it will reduce the impact of unsuitable accommodation on residents who are unable to be moved due to the overall shortage issue. Consult our Guide for Practitioners to ensure as many options as possible are considered, including at a strategic level.Provide an update to the Ombudsman on the action plan relating to public interest report (22016576).

  • London Borough of Lewisham (24 006 239)

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

    Summary

    Ms X complains about how the Council handled her application for a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) for home adaptations. We have concluded our investigation having made a finding a fault. The Council acknowledged delays in completing the necessary adaptations and failing to communicate effectively with Ms X throughout the process. While the Council has taken some steps to remedy the situation, there was scope to increase its remedy offer. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its DFG process with a view to implementing proactive case monitoring. This will ensure that cases are managed effectively, and that works are completed on time, preventing delay.

  • London Borough of Lewisham (24 003 953)

    Category: Education Date: 03-Feb-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained that the Council failed to hold an annual review of her son Z’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) within the required statutory timescale. We have concluded our investigation making a finding of fault. We found fault with the Council for failing to meet the statutory deadline for the annual review. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by these delays.

    Service improvements

    Review its procedures for monitoring and ensuring timely annual reviews of EHCPs to prevent similar delays in future. This should include clear escalation processes where schools or colleges are unable to meet deadlines, to ensure the Council fulfils its statutory responsibilities.

  • London Borough of Lewisham (23 020 998)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 09-Sep-2024

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council wrongly billed her for a council tax payment which she says she has already paid. Miss X says the Council’s actions caused her avoidable frustration and worry. We found fault by the Council. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and reduce the backdated arrears on her council tax account.

    Service improvements

    Remind staff to make complainants aware that they may request a stage two review of their complaint if they remain dissatisfied with the stage one response, and that they may refer their complaint to the Ombudsman if they remain dissatisfied with the Council’s final response

  • London Borough of Lewisham (23 020 687)

    Category: Education Date: 10-Feb-2025

    Summary

    Dr X complained the Council did not consider its section 19 duties when her child was too unwell to attend school. This meant her child was unable to access education. We have found the Council at fault for a delay in providing access to suitable provision after receiving a medical letter. This caused distress, uncertainty and frustration for Dr X and her child. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic financial payment and remind its staff of the Ombudsman’s guidance on how we expect councils to fulfil their responsibilities to provide education for children who do not attend school full-time.

    Service improvements

    The Council will share the decision on this case with its attendance staff and remind them of our guidance on how we expect Council's to fulfil their responsibilities to provide education for children who, for whatever reason, do not attend school full-time.

  • London Borough of Lewisham (23 020 345)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 02-Sep-2024

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council wrongly decided her son did not meet the criteria for support from its Children with Complex Needs Team. She also complained the Council’s assessment contained inaccurate or misleading information. Miss X said the Council’s actions caused her avoidable distress. We found fault in how the Council handled Miss X’s complaint. However, we have not investigated Miss X’s complaint that the Council wrongly decided her son did not meet the criteria for support and that the Council’s assessment contained inaccurate information. This is because the Council has agreed to continue its investigation of these complaints via the statutory children’s complaints procedure.

    Service improvements

    Remind staff of the three-stage statutory children’s complaints procedure, (and the timeframes for each stage), for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services, as well as the accompanying statutory guidance, and our practitioner guidance on the subject

  • London Borough of Lewisham (23 019 478)

    Category: Housing Date: 08-Oct-2024

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council has not reviewed her priority on its housing register. Ms X says she continues to live in overcrowded conditions. We have found the Council at fault as Ms X’s priority has not been reviewed. To remedy the injustice caused the Council agreed to apologise, make a payment to Ms X for the uncertainty caused, re-consider her priority and carry out a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    Complete the review and amendments to its housing allocations scheme so it clearly explains the different procedures for assessing applications made by Housing Association tenants.

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