Mr X complained about the assessment of and provision for his mother’s social care needs following discharge from hospital and respite care. He also complained about the way in which the Council had assessed his mother’s finances in relation to her liability for care costs.
The Ombudsman found that Mr X’s complaints about his mother’s care needs had not yet been investigated by the Council under the statutory Social Services complaints procedure and that the complaint about the financial assessment was inextricably linked to those complaints.
The Ombudsman asked the Council to, within 20 working days, conform to Mr X that it would investigate his complaints about his mother’s care needs in accordance with the applicable timescales and, while doing so, to put on hold its request for reimbursement of care costs. The Ombudsman also asked the Council to, within 20 working days of completing the investigation, confirm to Mr X its final position regarding liability for the care costs. The Council agreed to do so and the Ombudsman did not investigate.