Service improvements

Surrey County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024

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 21 - 30 of 46 cases with service improvements

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

  • Surrey County Council (23 001 364)

    Category: Education Date: 24-Sep-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to complete and issue her daughter, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan within the statutory timescale and failed to communicate with her properly. The Council was at fault. The Council will issue Y’s final EHC plan without further delay and pay Mrs X a symbolic amount of £750 to recognise the frustration and uncertainty caused to her.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review how Special Educational Needs caseworkers keep families updated during the Education, Health and Care needs assessments that are outside timescales, and how it implements and monitors recommendations made during complaint investigations. The Council will identify any improvements that are necessary and create an action plan to implement the improvements.

  • Surrey County Council (23 001 315)

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

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about how the Council dealt with a safeguarding investigation about the care and support provided to her adult child, Ms Y. There were some faults with the Council’s safeguarding enquiry process. This caused injustice to Ms Y and Mrs X. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    By training or other means remind staff of the Council’s referral processes to its commissioned advocacy services. This is to ensure people are appropriately referred to and have access to independent advocacy in line with the provisions of the Care Act 2014.By training or other means remind staff of the importance of providing information about its safeguarding enquiry process and communicating outcomes to the service user and/or representative(s) in a timely manner.

  • Surrey County Council (23 001 224)

    Category: Education Date: 03-Sep-2023

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to provide the provision outlined in her daughter’s education health and care plan since August 2022. We find the Council at fault for failing to provide the provision outlined in the plan. The Council will apologise, carry out a review of the educational provision in place, pay for the loss of education and distress and take action to prevent reoccurrence.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its policy and procedure for arranging therapies listed in section F of an EHC plan and consider if there is a clear process in place for obtaining this provision.

  • Surrey County Council (23 001 210)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 24-Nov-2023

    Summary

    We have upheld Mrs Y’s complaints about the way Surrey County Council (the Council) and NCH Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board (the ICB) dealt with her brother Mr X’s care and communicated with her family. We have recommended remedies for Mrs Y and four family members. We have also recommended service improvements to prevent similar faults affecting others. The Council and ICB have accepted our recommendations, so we have completed our investigation.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its handling of this complaint and related communications that indicates safeguarding concerns. It will then share any lessons learned from the review in anonymised format with the appropriate teams.The Council and the NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) will jointly review, and if necessary update, the systems and protocols they have in place for transferring care responsibilities from one organisation to another. This should include risk management and information sharing, both at the point of transfer and during any lead-in or transition period.

  • Surrey County Council (23 000 778)

    Category: Education Date: 26-Mar-2024

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council failed to provide her daughter, Ms Y, with the provision set out in her Education, Health and Care Plan. We found fault because the Council failed to deliver some of Ms Y’s provision, for a lack of timely and effective communication with Ms X and a delay in completing a statutory review. Ms X and Ms Y suffered avoidable distress and frustration in getting the issues resolved and Ms Y missed out on education she should have received. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Ms X and share guidance with relevant officers.

    Service improvements

    The Council will share the Ombudsman’s guidance on the principles of good administrative practice with relevant officers and managers. This will help to ensure it communicates in a timely and effective manner with those using its services.The Council will share the Ombudsman's guidance on effective complaint handling with relevant officers and managers. This will help to ensure complaints are dealt with in a timely and effective manner and complainants receive effective communication throughout the process.

  • Surrey County Council (23 000 444)

    Category: Education Date: 22-Dec-2023

    Summary

    There is evidence the Council failed to properly consider its section 19 duty to provide Mrs X’s son, Y, with suitable alternative provision when he was unable to attend school due to health needs between May 2022 to December 2022. I have made recommendations to remedy the injustice caused by the faults for the Council to consider.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of its section 19 duty to make suitable full-time educational provision to children who are absent from school due to illness, exclusion or otherwise

  • Surrey County Council (22 018 076)

    Category: Education Date: 09-Jul-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council delayed completing her child, Child Y’s Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment and deciding to issue Child Y with an EHC plan. The Council was at fault. Its failure to meet statutory timescales was due to a delay in obtaining Educational Psychologist advice. The Council will apologise and pay Mrs X £350 for the distress and uncertainty the delay caused between mid-March 2023 and late June 2023.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its processes to ensure actions recommended in complaint responses are carried out, including a mechanism to check all actions have been completed before the complaint is closed.

  • Surrey County Council (22 017 434)

    Category: Education Date: 14-Jun-2023

    Summary

    There was fault by the Council in failing to complete an EHC needs assessment within statutory timeframes. This has caused injustice. The Council will apologise, make a financial payment, consider putting in place interim provision and make service improvements. The complaint is upheld.

    Service improvements

    The Council will provide the Ombudsman with information about the actions it is taking to resolve a lack of Educational Psychology resource for Education, Health and Care needs assessments.

  • Surrey County Council (22 017 377)

    Category: Education Date: 30-Aug-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide a personal budget outlined in her daughter’s Education Health and Care plan. We found the Council at fault for failing to make personal budget payments to Mrs X. The Council will apologise, pay for loss of education and distress and take action to prevent reoccurrence.

    Service improvements

    The Council will inform all staff within the special educational needs department of the process by which direct payments must be set up and the policy is for payments to be made in advance

  • Surrey County Council (22 017 153)

    Category: Education Date: 16-Aug-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council delayed in completing the education, health and care plan needs assessment for her son Y and that Y had been out of education since November 2022 and the Council had not responded to her complaints about the same. The Council failed to issue an education, health and care plan for Y in line with the statutory timescales, failed to ensure Y had a suitable education between December 2022, and March 2023 and failed to ensure Y received the provision in his plan between March 2023 and July 2023. The Council agreed to pay Mrs X £5,225 to recognise the impact of the faults identified.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant staff that it is the Council’s responsibility to decide whether a child’s health needs prevent them from attending school and to decide what weight to give medical evidence; and to make arrangements for the provision of suitable education at school or otherwise for children who, by reason of illness, may not for any period receive suitable education unless such arrangements are made for them.

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