Mr V complained that when the Council’s commissioned care for his father, Mr C, at a residential Care Home between 27 August 2021 and 7 January 2022, in relation to the replacement of Mr C’s broken glasses and Mr C’s access to a COVID-19 booster vaccine. Mr V also complained that 2 safeguarding referrals – in relation to the delay with the COVID-19 booster vaccine and Mr C’s fall on 9 December 2021 – were appropriately managed by the Council.
The Ombudsman found that the Council was only aware of the issues around Mr C’s broken glasses and his COVID-19 booster from 9 December, at which time it acted promptly to contact the Care Home and request appropriate action to resolve them. It was reasonable for the Council to rely on the Care Home to provide day-to-day oversight of Mr C’s care and facilitate routine access to health services, and to expect the Care Home to be taking the action it said it was. The Ombudsman therefore did not uphold these complaints.
The Ombudsman found that the first safeguarding referral (into Mr C’s fall) was raised and considered appropriately; it was closed because there was no evidence of harm or neglect. However, the Council should have spoken to the family directly when considering the second referral (into the booster vaccine) and doing so would probably have resulted in further enquiries being made. This element of the complaint was therefore upheld in relation to the second referral because not all the relevant information had been gathered. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr V and have a discussion with him to understand his concerns before re-considering the second referral, and to share learning from the outcome of this investigation with relevant staff.