The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Mrs D complained the Council delayed assigning a social worker and completing an assessment of her daughter’s care and support needs. We find the Council was at fault for its delay in assigning a social worker and completing the assessment. The Council has agreed to make a payment to Mrs D and her daughter to address the injustice caused by fault.
The complaint
Mrs D complained the Council delayed assigning a social worker and completing an assessment of her daughter’s (Miss E) care and support needs.
Mrs D says this matter has caused distress and upset to the whole family. She says Miss E needs a suitable care package in place.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended) We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if they have given their consent. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1), as amended) If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information from Mrs D. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered information it sent in response.
Mrs D and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
What I found
The Care Act 2014 and care assessments Sections 9 and 10 of the Care Act 2014 (The Act) require councils to carry out an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support. They must provide an assessment to everyone regardless of their finances or whether the council thinks the person has eligible needs. The assessment must be of the adult’s needs and how they impact on their wellbeing and the results they want to achieve. It must also involve the individual and where suitable their carer or any other person they might want involved.
Councils must carry out assessments over a suitable and reasonable timescale considering the urgency of needs and any variation in those needs. Councils should tell people when their assessment will take place and keep them informed throughout the assessment.
Direct payments Direct payments are monetary payments made to individuals who ask for them to meet some or all of their eligible care and support needs. They enable people to arrange their own care and support to meet those needs.
What happened Mrs D contacted the Council in May 2023 and asked it to complete an assessment of Miss E’s care and support needs. Mrs D said Miss E was starting to have falls and she was concerned about her safety and her social wellbeing. The Council told Mrs D it was receiving many requests for assessments and therefore there would be a delay before it could offer an appointment. It said there was a 12-week waiting list. It asked Mrs D to complete a financial assessment form so it could assess whether Miss E had to contribute towards the cost of her care and support. Mrs D completed the form at the end of May.
Mrs D called the Council in June and said she was desperate for some support for Miss E. She said Miss E recently had two falls. The Council explained Miss E was on a waiting list as a priority and it could not guarantee when it could assign a social worker.
Mrs D called the Council again in July. She said Miss E’s mental health was deteriorating and she was unhappy with how long an assessment was taking. The Council said Miss E was at the top of the waiting list.
The Council assigned a social worker to Miss E’s case at the end of July. The social worker visited Miss E in early August. She completed an assessment and said Miss E had eligible care and support needs.
Mrs D complained to the Council in mid-August. She said it had delayed assigning a social worker to Miss E’s case and it had not provided her with any further information.
In late August the Council sent a copy of Miss E’s assessment to Mrs D. It asked Mrs D to provide her comments.
The Council arranged a care and support planning meeting in September to complete Miss E’s care and support plan. After the meeting the Council said it would ask for a direct payments package so Mrs D could organise Miss E’s care and support.
The Council responded to Mrs D’s complaint at the beginning of October. It said it told Mrs D in May there would be a 12 week wait. It said it assigned a social worker before 12 weeks, and it completed an assessment in early August. It apologised for the delays she experienced, and it said it was working hard to improve its waiting times in its social work teams. It said work was ongoing to provide Miss E with the care and support she needed.
Analysis The care and support statutory guidance states an assessment should be completed over an appropriate and reasonable timescale. We would normally expect this to be within four to six weeks. In this case, the Council took around 12 weeks to assign a social worker and complete the assessment. This is double the time we would expect and is fault.
I welcome the Council apologised for the delay when it responded to the complaint, and it confirmed it was working hard to improve its waiting times. However, I do not consider this is sufficient to remedy Mrs D’s and Miss E’s injustice. This is because once the Council completed its assessment, it decided Miss E was eligible for care and support. It is clear Miss E was struggling without care and support, and the Council’s delays added to her distress. Mrs D is heavily involved in supporting Miss E and she was also becoming increasingly distressed by the delays and the impact it was having on Miss E. The Council’s delay in completing an assessment leaves Miss E and Mrs D with some uncertainty the support would have been put in place sooner.
Agreed action
By 12 June 2024 the Council has agreed to: Pay Miss E and Mrs D £150 each for the uncertainty and distress caused by its delays in assigning a social worker and completing an assessment.
The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.
Final decision
There was fault by the Council, which caused Mrs D and Miss E an injustice. The Council has accepted my recommendation and so I have completed my investigation.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman