By James Simons-
A local authority breached the Care Act 2014 in its failure to assess the physical needs for a woman with physical and mental problems for several weeks, or produce a care plan when she was deemed eligible or provide her with free intermediate care, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
The Ombudsman concluded that Durham council’s failings caused the woman, who has mental and physical health problems, “avoidable distress and inconvenience”. The finding is disgrace to the council, listed among several others in 2020 that have been found to breach statutes in their responsibilities to those it is obliged to help.
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The news revealed to The Eye Of Media.Com today confirms the widespread negligence and irresponsibility of numerous councils who fail to uphold their statutory responsibilities.
Durham has accepted the ombudsman’s judgment and agreed to the report’s recommendations to apologise to her and pay her £300 and review council care planning procedure. The fee is small compared to the inconvenience caused, and does little to compensate her for the stress caused by a very negligent council.
The woman, whose identity has been withheld, contacted the council on 28 June 2019, describing her medical conditions and explaining she couldn’t sleep, didn’t like to go out and struggled to get dressed, use her wet room, or do housework. The council sent her information about care providers, cleaning services and a befriending service.
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On 17 July, she contacted the council again and said her doctor told her to contact the council’s social care team about her mental and physical health problems, and how this impacted her ability to manage her home. She was told to ask her doctor to make a referral to mental health services.
The council received a referral letter from her doctor on 30 July, describing the impact of her health conditions and said she needed a support worker. The council said it was unable to help and that Mrs X would have to fund her own care.
The council finally referred her case to a social worker to arrange an assessment, after a joint request from her local MP and doctor.
Eligible Needs
The assessment, on 28 August, found she had eligible needs for care and support arising from her physical condition as well as depression and anxiety. With reference to the outcomes set out in the eligibility criteria regulations under the Care Act, it found she was unable to manage and maintain her nutrition, her personal hygiene, or make use of the home safely. She was also unable to maintain a habitable home environment or access facilities in the community.
The report from the Ombudsman stated that the Children and Social Work Act 2017 imposes a duty on councils to have regard to the seven corporate parenting principles when exercising their functions in relation to care leavers.
These include acting in the best interests, and promote the physical and mental health and wellbeing of those children and young people.
to encourage those children and young people to express their views, wishes and feelings; and to take into account the views, wishes and feelings of those children and young people.
Responsibilities
The Care Act 2014 sets out councils’ responsibilities to assess the needs of adults in their area. An assessment identifies an individual’s needs, how they impact on their well-being and the outcomes the person wants to achieve in day to day life.
Councils are also under an obligation to undertake an assessment for any adult with an appearance of need for care and support, regardless of whether the council thinks the individual has eligible needs or their financial situation. Councils must consider all the adult’s care and support needs, regardless of any support being provided by a carer.
The woman’s social worker discussed a care package with the woman, and agreed to have a financial assessment to see how much she would have to pay toward her care. She did not want to start any care until she knew the results of her financial assessment.
Support
The ombudsman found that the woman’s clearly expressed a need for support when she first contacted the council in June 2019 and this was repeated by her doctor, meaning the council’s first contact service should have referred for an assessment under section 9 of the Care Act
“The council has a duty to assess someone who appears to have care and support needs, it did not refer Mrs X for an assessment until it received a request from her doctor and MP.
“While the council did carry out a needs assessment, there was a delay of about six weeks, the woman was put to unnecessary time and trouble contacting her GP, her MP, and making a complaint before she got an assessment,” the watchdog said. “That caused added avoidable distress and inconvenience to what was already a distressing situation for her.”
When the council finally carried out an assessment for the woman and identified eligible need for care and support, it failed to produce a care plan which was a fault, the ombudsman found, as this is required by section 24 of the Care Act.
Under the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, intermediate care must be provided free for six weeks, meaning the council was wrong to send Mrs X an invoice for her IC package. While the council waived the fee, this did not take away the distress she suffered, the watchdog said.
The council accepted it wrongly charged the woman for her IC after an administrative error when the care provider was changed. It has cancelled the charges. It also accepted the identified failings on the delay in assessing and not producing a care plan when required.
Lee Alexander, Durham County Council’s head of adult care, said the council received the ombudsman’s decision and acted swiftly in ensuring all the actions were implemented.
“We carried out a thorough review of our care planning procedure and have shared the results of this with all staff. All employees who work in the social care direct service have also been reminded of our duty to offer an assessment where there is an appearance of need.
“We have since updated the ombudsman on the steps taken and been informed it is satisfied and considers the matter complete.”
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