By Charlotte Webster-
Dudley Council has been urged to review all residential care placements since 2020, after the Local Ombudsman concluded the council had wrongly charged a man top-up fees for his mother’s care.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigated a complaint of unfairly inflated fees and concluded Dudley council had not offered ‘genuine choice’ to the man.
The Council ignored the Care Act’s statutory guidance which insists that councils “must ensure that the person has a genuine choice of accommodation” where it has been determined that a person’s needs are best met in a care home. This means that there must be one available and affordable option within the person’s personal budget.
What made the matter worse was that a 2017 previous ombudsman investigation uncovered similar failings within the council, leading the watchdog to be concerned as to why the situation had repeated itself with the council “appearing to have again failed to offer a placement that did not need a top-up”.
In addition to apologizing to the man and refunding him, the report said every person entering council-funded residential care since January 2020 should have their case reviewed to see if they pay a top-up fee and if they should be offered a refund.
The Ombudsman said that for six months after the issue of the 2021 report, complaints from families not offered an alternative placement within their personal budget at any time since the 2017 investigation must be assessed according to “the same principles”.
The complainant highlighted both the circumstances that led to his mother’s admission into care and the council’s role in moving her into a home. The victim had fallen from the stairs as her stairlift was left in an incorrect position, leading to a fall requiring hospitalization – for which the ombudsman concluded the council was not at fault.
After a period in a respite care home, the woman was assessed for a residential care placement.
The man was given a list of 41 care homes by the council, but only two accepted residents at the council-funded rate. One which accepted residents at the council funded rate, had no places available and six others he visited all charged top-up fees.
“Our investigation has found no evidence Dudley council offered the family an affordable placement with an available room, at the time his mother needed to be accommodated,” said Michael King, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. “Because of this, the council should not have charged the son a top-up fee.
“We published a public interest report about Dudley council in 2017 concerning similar issues and at the time it agreed to improve the way it dealt with third-party top-up fees,” King added. “I am concerned the council has not fully learned from this and we have had to issue this second report.”