ST HELENS Council said it takes all complaints “very seriously” after an investigation into care payments found that numerous grievances had been upheld by a government watchdog.
The national investigation found that 80 per cent of the 152 councils with responsibility for adult social care have been criticised on at least one occasion by Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) over their poor handling of charging for care services.
Newsquest’s Data Investigations Unit also found that 53 per cent of the 972 complaints submitted to the LGO between 2015 and 2019 were upheld.
Many complaints related to top-up fees, while others were about delays in financial assessments being carried out, incorrect invoices and bills issued, and failure to provide clear information about care home fees.
In St Helens, four complaints made to the 2015 and 2019 were upheld by the watchdog.
In February 2018, a complaint was upheld after St Helens Council failed to properly deal with the charges for a mother’s placement in a care home.
The Ombudsman ordered the council to apologise and refund the third-party top-up her son had paid and said it needed to improve the way it deals with charges in future.
Another complaint upheld in October 2018 revolved around whether the council paid enough interest on money it owed to the late mother of a man referred to as Mr B.
The Ombudsman found the council did not properly reach its decision to pay interest at the Bank of England base rate. This meant the council did not pay enough interest.
On the Ombudsman’s recommendation, the council agreed to pay interest based on the retail prices index in this case.
One complaint was upheld in 2017 after the council failed to carry out a mental capacity assessment on the day it planned care for a woman, referred to as Miss D.
The council also failed to invite Miss D’s friend to the meeting.
The council has apologised and put steps in place to stop this happening again, to remedy this part of the complaint.
It added that where was no fault in the council’s decision not to fund six weeks of care for Miss D, as she had mental capacity to decide which care home she went to.
In 2016, the Ombudsman upheld a complaint after it found fault in the way the council communicated with a woman in relation to a deferred payment agreement for care home fees.
On this occasion, the Ombudsman recommended a remedy.
A St Helens Council spokesman said: “The safety and well-being of residents – particularly our most vulnerable – is of paramount importance.
“Of the four complaints upheld against the council between 2016-18, only one related to charging for care services which we would like to assure residents is a rare occasion, and if required support is put in place to help people look after their finances.
“The council takes any complaints very seriously, and will respond to and action recommendations to prevent future incidents.
“None of the four investigations resulted in a public Ombudsman report being produced.”
The investigation found that some local authorities have proven repeat offenders.
Councils in Staffordshire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Wirral, East Sussex, Essex and Lancashire had the most complaints about charging for care upheld by the LGO over the last five years.
In response to the investigation, Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said social care funding needs “immediate reform”.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, called the current care system “hideously complex”, with councils not having enough cash to go around.
“At Age UK we have come across numerous examples of the law in regards to care being breached by councils, sometimes deliberately, at other times by mistake,” Ms Abrahams said.
“It’s yet another reason why the government must keep its promise to fix social care, and that must mean a process of refinancing care alongside a process of thorough going reform.”
The Department of Health and Social Care said councils are being provided with access to an extra £1.5 billion for adults and children’s social care in 2020-21 to help meet rising demand and stabilise the social care system.
Councils will also be able to raise a further £500 million for adult social care through a proposed 2 per cent council tax precept.
Anyone unhappy about the way a local authority carries out a financial assessment for charging can make representations through the council’s complaints procedure.
If the matter remains unresolved families can ask the Local Government Ombudsman to investigate.
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