Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

6. Mr T complains about the service provided by Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust) to Mr M between 5 April 2024 and 27 September 2024. In April 2024, Mr T discovered the Trust had ended aspects of Mr M’s community care provision, previously provided by the Trust to ensure healthcare and support for Mr M in the community. This meant both were without services they had relied on.

7. Mr T advises that due to the withdrawal of some of the support for Mr M by the Trust, Mr M has suffered from being effectively housebound unless Mr T can provide care. This has led to an exacerbation of Mr M’s medical conditions. Mr T also advises that the lack of respite from his caring responsibilities led to an impact on Mr T’s own health.

8. Mr T would like the Trust to reinstate the care provision available for Mr M. Regarding the impact on Mr T, he would like an apology, service improvements and a financial remedy to be assessed at a later date.

9. Mr M has a number of mental and behavioural issues for most of their life, and Mr T has served as their primary carer for this period. Mr T has informed us that they have both been let down in care and support by several organisations throughout the public healthcare arena, and are extremely disappointed to have been let down again by the Trust.

10. Following the removal of aspects of the care in April 2024, Mr T complained to the Trust in July 2024, and received a final response in October 2024. Mr T contacted the Ombudsman in November 2024.

14. Before we decide if we should conduct a detailed investigation of a complaint, we look at whether there are signs the organisation has got something wrong. We do this by comparing what should have happened with what did happen. We have done this and have not found any indications that something has gone wrong.

15. At the heart of this complaint is the question of what services should the patient expect to receive from the Trust. Between December 2022 and April 2024, the Trust provided a care worker who provided respite (time away from caring responsibilities) for Mr T by driving Mr M from their care home to social activities and medical appointments, giving them the social nourishment necessary. This also allowed Mr T some time for themselves. Mr T and Mr M were very disappointed to discover that following a change in the assigned care worker in April 2024, these services were no longer provided.

16. To explore this issue, we first sought guidance from the Trust on its obligations to Mr M and its other patients. The Trust is a community healthcare provider, who in circumstances like Mr M’s does provide care workers to support patients and their families. All parties agree that the Trust did provide this care worker between December 2022 and April 2024.

17. The position of the Trust is that at no time was the care worker obligated to or allowed to drive Mr M to social events or medical appointments. This is not within the duties expected of its care workers. It appears to be that the care worker from December 2022 to April 2024 went outside their duties to provide this assistance and support to Mr M and Mr T.

18. To better understand the situation we got advice from our adviser and we were directed to the NHS England guidance on non-emergency patient transport criteria (NHS guidance). This NHS guidance states there is no obligation or allowance for care workers to transport patients, like Mr M unless in exceptional circumstances, such as the need for emergency medical care. Our clinical adviser further states that it does appear the care worker went beyond their job role during their time assigned to Mr M.

19. After reviewing the information provided by both parties along with the NHS guidance, we cannot find any indication that the Trust failed in its duties to Mr M or Mr T.

20. We can see from the report shared with us by the Trust, that the service the Trust provides does not include transport of Mr M to social events or medical appointments. It is therefore clear that when the care worker changed in April 2024, as far as the Trust was aware there was no change in the service received by Mr T and Mr M.

21. The Trust acted within the NHS guidance and cannot be reasonably expected to honour services provided by a former staff member who went beyond their duties. As such we find no indications of failing and do not propose to investigate further.

22. We understand this outcome is not the one the complainant would have liked. We hope our investigation has given Mr T some resolution by knowing the Trust has not willing altered Mr M’s care package and that the provision previously enjoyed were an act of kindness, given by the previous care worker. We understand how difficult things must be for Mr T and Mr M, now the service they were once used to has changed.

1. We have carefully considered Mr T’s complaint about Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust). After an extensive consideration of the evidence provided by both Mr T and the Trust, our decision is we have seen no indication that anything went seriously wrong, and we detail our thinking below.

2. Mr T approached the Ombudsman at the end of 2024 with concerns regarding how the Trust treated his brother, Mr M. Specifically, from December 2022 until April 2024 the Trust had provided a care worker for Mr M that took them to social events and provided respite for Mr T who would otherwise act as the primary carer for their sibling.

3. In April 2024 the care worker left the Trust. Mr T was informed that from that point any new care worker would not be providing respite for Mr M, and would not transport him to social events.

4. Our investigation has shown that at no point was the Trust obliged to provide the level of care Mr M received between December 2022 and April 2024. Instead, it appears the care worker at the time went beyond their job description to provide this care and support for Mr M. Sadly when the care worker left the Trust, the Trust became aware of the extra worker the care worker had been doing. Unfortunately, the Trust did not have the resources or the legal obligation to instruct the new care worker to act in a similar way.

5. We know this may not be the answer Mr T has been seeking, and may prove upsetting. We hope we can assure Mr T that our investigation has been thorough and fair.