Service improvements

Suffolk County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2027

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 27 cases with service improvements

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

  • Suffolk County Council (25 014 909)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 09-Aug-2026

    Summary

    There was fault in the Council's handling of some of Ms X's concerns. This along with the Council’s inadequate complaint response caused Ms X avoidable frustration.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant officers that complaint responses should address all substantive issues raised by a complainant, even where there are concerns about the complainant's conduct.

  • Suffolk County Council (25 010 959)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 06-Jul-2026

    Summary

    The Council was at fault as it did not properly plan for Mr Y’s transition to adult care services and delayed completing an assessment of Mr Y’s adult care needs. This caused avoidable uncertainty, distress and frustration to Mr Y and Mr X. The Council agreed to apologise and make a payment to recognise the fault and the injustice caused. It also agreed to service improvements to prevent recurrence.

    Service improvements

    The Council will produce an action plan to address the outcomes of its review into 50 young person’s transitions after Care Act assessment, this should include but is not limited to, the training or briefing of relevant staff on the findings

  • Suffolk County Council (25 009 169)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 09-Jun-2026

    Summary

    Miss X complained about the way the Council reduced her support from 35 to 14 hours per week. She also complained about the way the Council’s staff treated her during the review meeting. We found fault in the way the Council carried out a review of Miss X’s care and support plan and the way it had responded to her complaint. The Council’s fault caused injustice to Miss X as for many months she did not have adequate support and had to rely on her adult son. The Council has already reviewed its decision on Miss X’s support and reinstated her previous hours. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to recognise Miss X’s injustice and remind its staff of what they should include in the review of care and support plans.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind members of the Adult Social Care team who carry out reviews of people’s care and support plans of the importance of considering whether any proposed support meets their needs in order to achieve outcomes identified for them. The Council also will remind staff about the requirement to specify which needs are met by the person’s carer and whether those needs would be eligible.

  • Suffolk County Council (25 003 202)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 26-Aug-2026

    Summary

    We found fault by Suffolk County Council, Care UK and NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board with regards to the care provided to Mrs C when she was resident in the Care Home. This fault placed Mrs C at risk and caused her daughter, Mrs B, significant distress and uncertainty. The Council, Care UK and the ICB will take action to prevent similar problems occurring in future. They will also pay Mrs B a symbolic financial remedy. There was no fault with regards to the handling of an NHS Funded Nursing Care review by the ICB.

    Service improvements

    The Council will explain to the Ombudsmen what action they will take, as commissioners, to maintain oversight over the quality of care at the Care Home on an ongoing basis.

  • Suffolk County Council (25 003 045)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 11-Dec-2025

    Summary

    There was a delay in offering Mr B an assessment by an occupational therapist, to decide whether Mr B was eligible for a disabled facilities grant (DFG) but the Council has already remedied this. The Council failed to properly consider its duties under the Armed Forces Covenant when it made its decision and this was fault. The Council has agreed to review its decision and provide a written response to Mr B.

    Service improvements

    Remind relevant officers of the Council’s duties under the Armed Forces Covenant.

  • Suffolk County Council (24 018 288)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 23-Oct-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained about the standard of the care the Council commissioned care home provided to his late wife. He also complained about the Council’s handling of the retrospective safeguarding enquiry. We find the Council was at fault for its delays in completing the retrospective safeguarding enquiry and review and for its failure to keep Mr X properly updated. The care home was at fault for failing to follow its falls policy, its record keeping and for how it handled Mr X’s wife’s food and fluid intake. These faults caused Mr X uncertainty, distress and upset. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X, make a payment to him and implement service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to issue written reminders to relevant care home staff to ensure they are aware of what they should do and how to escalate matters if a resident consistently refuses to eat and drink.The Council has agreed to issue written reminders to relevant officers to ensure they complete safeguarding investigations without unreasonable delay and provide regular updates to the person who has reported the safeguarding concern.

  • Suffolk County Council (24 016 358)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 11-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Miss C complained on her own behalf and that of her son, Mr D, who has care needs. We upheld her complaint, finding the Council undertook a flawed review of Mr D’s care needs. This resulted in it wrongly stopping him paying Miss C as his carer, against his wishes. This caused unnecessary distress to both Miss C and Mr D and contributed to Mr D having no organised care provision after July 2024. The Council has accepted these findings. At the end of this statement, we set out the action it has agreed to remedy this injustice and improve its service to avoid a repeat.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to carry out three briefings to staff covering assessments of care needs, care and support planning and administration of direct payments. These would aim to share learning from this complaint on the importance of keeping a clear audit trail of decisions where the Council proposes cutting a care package; involving the users of services in deciding what care services they want and decisions around direct payments; as well as when and how it might end a direct payment. In this case the Council had been at fault in all three areas, not explaining why it proposed cutting a care package, and stopping direct payments contrary to the complainant's wishes and without adequate justification.The Council also agreed to review it current arrangements for responding to adult social care complaints to ensure they were consistent with the expectations we publish, including where it contracts care to private care providers. This was after it failed to keep oversight of a complaint about a care provider, and unnecessarily prolonged correspondence with the complainant.

  • Suffolk County Council (24 015 692)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 12-May-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complains about how the Council carried out financial assessments for her sons, Mr Y and Mr Z. Mrs X says this has resulted in them being charged for care. We find fault with the Council for its communication about charges, and its consideration of Mrs X’s complaint. We agreed the Council will apologise to Mrs X and carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    Within three months of the final decision the Council should:• Carry out service improvements to ensure that complaints are fully responded to;• Review how the Council can improve communication where the Council sends out multiple charging letters on the same day or close together, it will also tell people of the final amount to pay.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 019 368)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 22-Nov-2024

    Summary

    Mr D complained on behalf of his mother that the Council had overcharged for her care and support and failed to issue invoices. He also complains about delay responding to his complaint. We found fault causing an overcharge, distress and time and trouble. The Council has agreed to take the actions set out at the end of this statement to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    •Review its adult social care charging systems to ensure invoices can be issued to self-funders who have not had a full financial assessment and that there are regular checks that commissioned care is being evidenced and invoiced.•Check that it is monitoring whether regular care and support reviews are being carried out of self-funders.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 018 834)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 02-Sep-2024

    Summary

    Mrs D complained about the Council’s actions when her husband Mr D went into a care home in 2023. We have found some fault which caused Mrs D distress and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise and pay her £300 and improve its procedures for the future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to review its care assessment procedures so that when there will be a delay in allocating a case for assessment, the Council provides clear advice and information about the likely waiting period and addresses any immediate concerns about interim care and finances.

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