The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council charging Mrs B for care neither she nor her husband, Mr B knew would be chargeable. This is because the Council has agreed to waiver the outstanding charges and we are satisfied this and the additional recommendations identified by the Council remedies the injustice caused to Mrs B.
The complaint
Mr B complained neither he nor his wife, Mrs B, were told they would be charged for her care when she was discharged from hospital. Mr B says although the Council reduced the invoice, it said Mrs B was liable for payment from 26 November when Mr B knew about paying for care. Mr B says as soon as he found out there was a charge he cancelled the care. Mr B says the Council should cancel the remaining invoice of £106.01 because he would not have agreed to paying for care if he knew it was chargeable.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council acknowledged although records show Mrs B said she wanted the Council to provide her with care on discharge from hospital, it was not clearly recorded she would be charged for that care. It agreed to cancel the cost of care it provided between 7 and 25 November but said Mr B was aware of the responsibilities of paying for care from 26 November so the outstanding invoice of £106.01 was payable.
The Council has agreed to waiver the invoice for £106.01 so there is no outstanding monies owed. It says it will ensure ‘Paying for Care and Support’ handbooks are signed for by clients or their representatives and clearly record this has been done. The Council says it will implement additional training for staff working with self-funders about the cost of care and paying for it. We are satisfied with the actions taken by the Council.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because we are satisfied the Council has remedied the injustice caused to Mrs B.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman