The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Mrs X complains the Council has not dealt properly with adult social care for her and her son Mr Y. The Council is at fault because it has been unable to provide the care Mr Y needs. Mrs X and Mr Y suffered missed care provision and avoidable distress. The Council should pay Mrs X and Mr Y £1,000 each.
The complaint
The complainants, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X and Mr Y, complain that the Council has not dealt properly with adult social care because it has not: Made care provision for Mr Y after he became eligible for funded support in March 2022; and Provided Mrs X with respite care.
Mrs X and Mr Y say they have missed care provision and suffered avoidable distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. Service failure can happen when an organisation fails to provide a service as it should have done because of circumstances outside its control. We do not need to show any blame, intent, flawed policy or process, or bad faith by an organisation to say service failure (fault) has occurred. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(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 spoke to Mrs X about her complaint and considered documents she provided. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its response and the supporting documents it provided.
Mrs X 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
What happened?
This is a brief chronology of key events. It does not contain everything I reviewed during my investigation.
Mr Y received an adult social care needs assessment in 2020. He was assessed as needing a number of hours each week to access the community. Mr Y became eligible for funded care in March 2022.
The Council agreed to provide respite care for Mr Y and Mrs X in September 2023.
Analysis The Council accepts that it has been unable to source a provider for Mr Y. This is service failure by the Council. Mr Y has missed care provision. Mrs X and Mr Y have suffered avoidable distress.
Since March 2022, Mr X will have missed approximately 1,000 hours of support over 25 months.
The Council acted quickly in September 2023 to try to arrange respite provision. It has requested respite provision in October 2023, December 2023, February 2024, April 2024, July 2024 and August 2024. The provider was unable to make provision available in October 2023. It appears that there was some miscommunication between the Council and the provider as to what information was required in October. I do not consider this to be fault by the Council.
Agreed action
To remedy the outstanding injustice caused by the fault I have identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within 4 weeks of this decision: Pay Mrs Mr Y a symbolic payment of £1,000 each in respect of service failure and avoidable distress.
The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.
Final decision
I have found fault by the Council, which caused injustice to Mrs X and Mr Y. I have now completed my investigation.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman