Service improvements

Surrey County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026

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 - 8 of 8 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 (25 006 976)

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

    Summary

    We have found fault in the Council’s actions. The Council delayed re-assessing Mr B’s needs for care and support. As a result, there was a delay in Mr B receiving the support he needed. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr B, pay a financial remedy and carry out a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    Ensure all relevant staff understand the Council’s duty to keep appropriate records in adult social care. It will provide training or guidance as needed.

  • Surrey County Council (25 005 242)

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

    Summary

    Miss X complained about the Council’s actions following her annual review. We find fault in the Council’s failure to provide copies of final assessments in a timely way, its poor communication and complaint handling, and its failure to clearly act on or explain decisions following the January 2025 review. I also found fault in the Council’s handling and recording of contingency planning in relation to Miss X’s upcoming surgery. These faults caused Miss X avoidable distress, uncertainty, and time and trouble in pursuing information and support. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Miss X, and take steps to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind relevant adult social care staff of the importance of providing service users with copies of finalised assessments and care and support plans, even where no changes have been made from draft versionsThe Council has agreed to review its arrangements for managing cases when social workers are unexpectedly absent, including ensuring appropriate managerial oversight and clear alternative contact arrangements for service users.

  • Surrey County Council (25 001 228)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 05-Feb-2026

    Summary

    Mrs X complained that the Council refused to fund her father’s placement under the ‘Discharge to Assess’ pathway. The Council was at fault for how it assessed her father’s eligibility for funding. It gave Mrs X contradictory information, and its poor communication and record-keeping created avoidable confusion. This caused Mrs X inconvenience and distress. The Council will now take action to address her injustice.

    Service improvements

    The Council will confirm how it will ensure that its social care staff are fully aware of D2A eligibility procedures.

  • Surrey County Council (25 000 703)

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

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for failing to update Mr S’s care plan to include provision after his day placement ended in August 2024. This meant he missed out on provision to meet his eligible care needs. This also caused his mother, Ms X, distress, as she became his fulltime carer with no respite. The Council agreed to apologise and make payments to Mr S and Ms X to acknowledge the distress caused and the lack of provision. It also agreed to report back to us on steps it will take to prevent similar issues from happening in future.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review the complaint and identify the issues that led to the individual being left without any adult care services provision. It will report back to the Ombudsman on the steps it will take to avoid similar issues happening in future.

  • Surrey County Council (24 020 735)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 19-Oct-2025

    Summary

    Mr B complained the Council delayed financially assessing his mother, who I will refer to as Mrs C; gave him inaccurate financial information; and referred to mental capacity assessments as a formality. There was fault by the Council. It delayed allocating Mrs C’s case for a care assessment to be carried out. Because of the fault, there was a short delay in Mrs C receiving funding from the Council after her finances fell below the upper capital limit. This caused distress and worry to Mr B. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr B. It has also agreed to send us evidence of a review it has carried out of its case allocation processes, and evidence of training it has provided to staff about the Mental Capacity Act.

    Service improvements

    The Council will send us evidence of a review it says it carried out of its allocation processes for cases where a capital threshold referral has been made, to ensure prevention of further delays. This will provide us with assurance the Council has carried out the review it says it has done. This will help to ensure care assessments are carried out in a timely manner and where applicable, Council funding will start before the service user's finances reach the upper capital limit.The Council will send us evidence of the training it says it has put in place in relation to the Mental Capacity Act. This will provide us with assurance the Council has carried out the training it says it has put in place. This will ensure relevant staff communicate with service users about mental capacity assessments in an appropriate, professional and consistent manner.

  • Surrey County Council (24 016 511)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 05-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council failed to meet his eligible care needs for three months and it failed to attend borough council meetings about his housing. We found there was a lack of care provision which was Service Failure by the Council. We also found there was a failure to attend housing meetings after agreeing to do so. This was a lack of partnership working. The fault by the Council led to distress to Mr X. The Council agreed to apologise, make a distress payment and work on an action plan to avoid the same issues happening again.

    Service improvements

    The Council should produce a written action plan to address the issues we have highlighted with the duty team. It should determine what actions are needed to ensure care reviews take place when a case is with the duty team, how it will ensure duty team staff show professional curiosity when addressing queries about service user’s circumstances and, most importantly, how interactions and partnership working with other partner agencies and councils will be improved. The Council should present the action plan to an appropriate scrutiny committee, setting out what steps the Council intends to take to avoid the issues reoccurring for other service users.

  • Surrey County Council (24 011 748)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 06-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Mr C complains the Council wrongly refused his application for a Blue Badge and the assessment caused him physical pain. I have found procedural fault in the Council’s Blue Badge assessment which creates doubt about the outcome reached. To remedy the complaint the Council has agreed to apologise to Mr C, and make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council should through its contract monitoring remind Access Independent about the importance of recording accurately.

  • Surrey County Council (24 008 742)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 13-May-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained about how the Council managed her care needs after the previous arrangement broke down and it did not provide her with the support or hours she needed. We found the Council at fault for significant delays with a reassessment of her needs and how it decided her care hours. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X, make a symbolic payment, and take action to prevent recurrence of fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council should send written reminders to relevant staff about what exceptions apply if an adult with care and support needs refuses an assessment, in line with Section 11 of the Care Act 2014. If these apply, the Council must carry out an assessment as far as practicable and record this.The Council should send written reminders to relevant staff to ensure that if the Council is arranging care support, and intends to change a service user’s documented support hours temporarily, it should communicate and explain the reasons to the service user first.

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