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 41 - 50 of 108 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 (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.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 016 653)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 28-Aug-2024

    Summary

    Mr D complained the Council delayed completing a financial assessment for his mother. He also complained the Council delayed reviewing his stepfather’s care and support needs. We find the Council was at fault for its delays in completing the financial assessment and its delays in reviewing Mr D’s stepfather’s care and support needs. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council will issue written reminders to relevant officers to ensure they act without undue delay when a service user or their relative asks for a review of a care and support plan.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 015 464)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 28-Nov-2024

    Summary

    the Council failed to explain the reasons for the delay completing a section 17 assessment, failed to carry out that assessment properly, failed to explain why it did not consider Mrs B’s son qualified for a level 5 Activities Unlimited award, delayed dealing with Mrs B’s complaint and failed to keep her up-to-date. The remedy the Council has already offered, alongside some procedural recommendations, is satisfactory.

    Service improvements

    The Council will consider putting in place a procedure to ensure tribunal recommendations are followed up on so similar problems do not occur in future.The Council will remind those investigating complaints at stage two of: a)the need to ensure the person complaining is happy with any complaints which have been reworded and understand how that will affect the investigation;b)the need to ensure investigating officers are clear with complainants where parts of the complaint are matters the Council cannot reach a firm conclusion on.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 014 802)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 20-Aug-2024

    Summary

    We found fault with the Council in the way the Council communicated with the complainant (Mr X) about the charges for his care services. We also found fault with the Council for its failure to take account of its duties under the Equality Act 2010. The Council’s fault caused distress to Mr X, which lasted for many months. The Council has agreed to apologise, review adjustments needed by Mr X in his communication with the Council and make a symbolic payment to recognise Mr X’s distress. The Council has also agreed some service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind the Adult Social Care staff of its duty to follow the adjustments agreed for the service users. The staff will review our documents: “Principles of Good Administrative Practice” and “Equal Access: Getting it right for people with disabilities”.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 014 605)

    Category: Education Date: 04-Sep-2024

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council wrongly asked him for a contribution to his son’s post-16 school transport. There was fault with how the Council took too long to issue a final EHC plan for Y and how it decided whether to charge a contribution towards Y’s school transport costs. It agreed to review its decision, apologise for the distress caused to Mr X and Y, and pay them a financial remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to review how it makes decisions under its school transport policy for young people with an EHC plan. It should ensure it considers whether applicants are likely to receive free transport as an adult and, if so, whether it is still appropriate to charge a contribution, considering the statutory guidance.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 013 678)

    Category: Education Date: 10-Sep-2024

    Summary

    Ms M complains the Council has not arranged the specialist occupational therapy in her daughter G’s December 2021 Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, and has not reviewed the Plan. The Council offered payments for the missed provision and recognises the need to review the Plan. The Council has contacted a therapist identified by Ms M to arrange the provision.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its procedures for annual reviews to ensure they comply with all relevant legislation, regulations and government guidance.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 005 445)

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

    Summary

    We investigated a complaint about the care and support provided to Mr O’s late brother Mr K by a Council and NHS Trust. We found fault by both organisations. The Council took too long to allocate Mr K a social worker and too long to respond to Mr O’s complaints. The Trust took too long to act on concerns about Mr K’s fitness to drive or to arrange an assessment of his mental capacity. The communication between the Council and Trust was also poor at times. These failings caused Mr O and Mr K avoidable distress and frustration. The organisations have agreed to apologise, pay a financial remedy, and take actions to improve their services.

    Service improvements

    The Council will consider the lessons learned from this case, and will confirm the action it has taken to improve services in relation to: • the timescale for allocating cases to social workers • responding to complaints and keeping complainants informed • communicating effectively with linked NHS services and working together in a co-ordinated and patient-centred way

  • Suffolk County Council (23 006 191)

    Category: Education Date: 20-Dec-2023

    Summary

    Mrs B complained about excessive delay by the Council in issuing a final EHC plan for her son C following a needs assessment and in producing an amended EHC plan following an annual review. It also failed to properly investigate the matter when responding to Mrs B’s complaint. We have found fault causing injustice to Mrs B and C. The Council has agreed to pay Mrs B £500 for herself, and £1250 for the benefit of C’s education, in addition to completing the annual review process. The Council has also agreed to improve its procedures for the future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to proivde an update with its progress in improving its adherence to statutory times scales both in issuing EHC plans following a needs assessment and completing the Annual Review process and provides details of ongoing actions to secure improvements in these areas.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 005 964)

    Category: Education Date: 09-Jan-2024

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council failed to properly review her child P’s Education, Health, and Care plan, or ensure they received a suitable education and support for their special educational needs. There was fault by the Council which meant P did not receive suitable education or support for their special educational needs. It also caused avoidable distress and uncertainty to P and Ms X, and lost opportunity for P. The Council agreed to apologise, re-assess P’s Education, Health, and Care needs, consider whether suitable education is in place for P, and pay a financial remedy. It will also review relevant procedures, issue reminders to its staff, and ensure our findings are considered as part of its SEND Improvement Strategy.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to issue reminders to all staff in its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) service that:when a child with an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plan moves from a different council's area, the Council must let the family know within 6 weeks of transfer whether it will carry out an EHC needs assessment, or when it will review the plan. It also must review the plan within 3 months, or within 12 months of the previous review by the old council, whichever is later; andany final EHC plan issued must be shared with the family, along with their rights to appeal to the First Tier Tribunal (SEND).The Council agreed to review its processes and procedures, and issue reminders to relevant staff, to ensure that where it is aware a child is being educated part-time, it keeps the suitability of this arrangement under regular review.The Council agreed to ensure a copy of our final decision is considered as part of its ongoing Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Improvement Strategy, following its Independent SEND Review. The Council commissioned this independent review in 2021 to address issues with its SEND services and is monitoring progress against the actions it identified.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 005 229)

    Category: Education Date: 08-Feb-2024

    Summary

    Mrs B says the Council failed to put in place education for her son, failed to identify a suitable school placement and failed to put in place provision in her son’s education, health and care plan. Part of the complaint is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. For that part within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction there is evidence of failure to put in place sufficient education for Mrs B’s son, delay identifying a school placement and delay putting in place special educational needs provision. An apology, payment to Mrs B and reminder to officers is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will send a memo to officers in education to make clear when a child receives alternative provision the Council keeps the number of hours provided under review. That memo should also remind officers of the need to ensure prompt consultations with schools take place when a child is out of education, the requirement to put in place provision by day 6 and that it sends consultations to multiple schools at the same time rather than sending out individual consultations.The Council will provide evidence to the Ombudsman it has in place a process to identify alternative speech and language therapists or occupational therapists when a shortage is preventing provision in a child's EHCP being put into place.

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