The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
The complaint
Ms B says a care provider who supports her at home on behalf of the Council, does not stay the commissioned time but Ms B still pays the full amount. Ms B says she cannot afford the care bills and her health is getting worse.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms B receives care at home which the Council arranges. The Council must assess what if anything Ms B can afford to pay toward her care support. The Council has done this, but Ms B thinks what she pays is too much. The Council completes financial assessments following rules set out by government. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions here to justify us investigating.
Ms B says the care workers do not stay for the full time the care calls are supposed to last. Care workers are not required to stay for a set amount of time, they are required to complete the tasks set out on the person’s care plan. The Council’s investigation found sometimes care workers left early and sometimes they stayed late, there was no suggestion the tasks are not completed. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating further. Also, there is no financial injustice to Ms B as she does not pay for 10.5 hours of care but pays a contribution toward the cost of that care. So even if care hours were reduced, Ms B may pay the same contribution, but would never pay more than the cost of the care.
The Council should review Ms B’s care plan at least each year. This gives an opportunity to discuss any concerns Ms B has. A recent review confirmed the care is required. The Council has given a thorough response to the concerns Ms B has raised. It is unlikely the Ombudsman would achieve any different outcome to justify an investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault. It is unlikely the Ombudsman would add to the Council’s investigation or achieve a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman