Luton council must pay £550 and apologise over its handling of adult care complaint

A local authority has been ordered to pay a Luton resident £550 over the way it carried out an adult social care safeguarding inquiry and the handling of a subsequent complaint.

The complainant reported concerns about the unsafe and poor quality care provided by Luton Borough Council to her mother by a care agency, according to a local government and social care ombudsman report.

This fault caused avoidable distress and uncertainty, said the ombudsman. “But the council wasn’t at fault for the time it took to find an alternative care agency to deliver her mother’s care package.

“LBC’s poor communication with the complainant about the progress of the safeguarding inquiry and care planning caused her distress and anxiety, which had an adverse impact on her health and work.

“She said it took the local authority more than 12 months to find a new care provider to meet her mother’s care needs, after the company stopped providing the service in December 2021.

“The daughter wants the council to take safeguarding issues seriously and adopt a more person-centred approach, liaising and communicating with family members better.

“She asked for an apology for the stress and trauma the family experienced, and a financial remedy to recognise the stress of looking after her mother, while she was working full-time without respite care. Her mother cannot walk and uses a wheelchair.”

LBC said it had learned lessons from her experience and introduced a new process for handling cases where it was difficult to find care providers to deliver a care package, explained the ombudsman.

“The council accepts there should have been better communication with the daughter over its delayed response and should have sent her a holding letter.

“There were significant delays at both stages of the complaints procedure. But this wasn’t communicated to the complainant, so it appeared to her that the investigation had stalled.

“The complaint responses failed to address her concern about the need to provide her mother with support to access the community. These delays increased her frustration and distress, reinforcing her view that LBC wasn’t giving her concerns the serious and timely attention they deserved.

“Within a month, the local authority will arrange for a senior manager to send a further written apology to the daughter, which acknowledges the impact of the faults identified in this investigation.

“It must arrange for a senior manager to write to her explaining, in plain English, what practical steps the council has taken to improve safeguarding processes following her complaint.

“The acting head of service offered to arrange a face-to-face meeting with her and her family, which should be included in this letter,” added the ombudsman.

“A symbolic payment of £350 should be paid to recognise the distress caused by its poor handling of the safeguarding inquiry, its poor communication with her and its failure to involve her at key stages in the process.

“And the council should pay her £200 for her time and trouble in pursuing the complaint, and the significant delays and fault in the way it handled this matter.”