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News from the Ombudsman - late February 2024 |
Welcome... Welcome to the latest edition of News from the Ombudsman. In this edition you can read about how we're: - Marking our 50th anniversary.
- Publicising a care provider who has failed to respond properly to our investigation.
- Highlighting the problems councils are facing when recruiting educational psychologists and other specialists.
- Using evidence from our investigations to inform national enquiries.
We hope you enjoy reading our newsletter. If you'd like to hear more about the work we do, why not follow us on X or LinkedIn? | |
50 years young!  This month we celebrated our 50th birthday. While taking a moment to reflect on our journey with our staff, we've been far from resting on our laurels. On 8 February 1974, the Local Government Act became law. Part of this new law created the Commission for Local Administration in England – the board that still runs our organisation today – with the job of investigating complaints about the administrative actions of local authorities. Looking into the archives, some of the earliest newspaper reports of our investigations from later that year focused on disputes around planning applications for residential homes. Today, the most common types of complaint we receive are about education and children's services, as well as adult social care. An important year for us was 2009, when our powers were extended to look at complaints about independent adult social care providers. For the first time, people who paid for adult care services themselves could get an independent review of their complaint. And now, 50 years to the day of our creation, we launched a new complaint handling code for councils. By showing what the gold standard for complaint handling should look like, it will be clearer for councils on how to provide great complaint services, and also help the public to know what they should expect. It is another way we continue to innovate as we look ahead to the next milestone. | Dorset care home refuses to comply with our recommendations  A Lyme Regis nursing home has refused to agree to our recommended remedy for a family, despite a council investigation finding it provided care that amounted to "acts of neglect". Farrington Care Ltd, the owners of Lyme Regis Nursing Home in Pound Road, has refused to refund the cost of care the family paid for the seven weeks their relative was a client. The council's safeguarding investigation found significant failings in the man's care, amounting to "evidential acts of neglect" and omissions. This included poor oral care, diabetes management, pain records and medication management. The care home has apologised to the family and refunded part of a deposit paid, having deducted fees for a notice period. The family complained to us, and we have asked the provider to refund the man's estate all fees paid for the seven weeks he lived in the home, plus a further two weeks' notice period. The provider has refused to do this, so we have published a rare Adverse Findings Notice and shared this with the Care Quality Commission. | National shortage having a major impact on children with special educational needs  We've highlighted the impact the national shortage of education psychologists is having on children and families in a recent report. Educational Psychologists and other key professionals assess children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to inform the provision and support needed in their Education, Health and Care Plans. However, across the country councils are struggling to meet their statutory duties to these children because so few professionals are available, and many families experience significant delays in receiving the vital support they need. Our Chief Executive, Nigel Ellis said: "This crisis has been 10 years in the making; both councils and the government could have anticipated the issues and planned for the future, when the Children and Families Act was brought in and demand for EHC Plans started to increase. Educational Psychologists cannot be trained overnight and so this situation will not be resolved without significant input on a national scale. The focus on Educational Psychologist training in the Government's SEND and Alternative Provision Plan of March 2023 is important but needs to be implemented at pace and supported by the funding needed to make a difference to young people. "Councils have a clear obligation to complete the EHC Plan process within the statutory timescales, and while we do have some sympathy for their recruitment and retention problems, we will find fault where cases are outside those timescales." | Using our insight to inform national debates  We track and respond to relevant consultations and inquiries, in which the evidence from our casework can help highlight issues with the delivery of services and council processes. In the past couple of months we have responded to the Care Quality Commission's consultation on proposed guidance for visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices, using evidence from our complaints. We have also responded to the Education Committee inquiry into children's social care. | News you may have missed... |
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