Summary: Mr X complained that care workers were not adequately trained and did not have the level of experience required to care for his late mother. He says on occasions they failed to attend for visits at the right time. Mr X also complains the Care Provider terminated the care package without notice. We find no fault by the Care Provider.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that care workers were not adequately trained and did not have the level of experience required to care for his late mother. He says on occasions they failed to attend for visits at the right time. Mr X also complains the Care Provider terminated the care package without notice.
2. Mr X said he would like the Care Provider to reimburse all care costs and make a payment to acknowledge his distress and time and trouble.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about adult social care providers and decide whether their actions have caused an injustice, or could have caused injustice, to the person making the complaint or others. I have used the term fault to describe such actions. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B and 34C)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by Mr X and discussed the complaint with him. I made enquiries of the Care Provider and considered its response.
6. Mr X and the Care Provider had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered all comments before reaching a final decision.

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What I found

What happened

7. Below is a brief chronology of key events. It is not meant to show everything that happened.
8. Mr X’s mother, Mrs Y, had been diagnosed with severe dementia and had other long term health issues.
9. On 1 June 2022, Mr X contacted the Care provider and requesting a quote for a live in carer for his mother. Mr X explained his mother required a female carer of a specific religious and cultural background. The Care Provider agreed to call Mr X back.
10. On 3 June, the Care Provider told Mr X that it could not meet his exact request for a carer but had carers with a similar religious and cultural background.
11. On 5 June, Mr X told the Care Provider he was happy with the female workers available if they were strictly vegetarian. The Care Provider said it could match Mr X’s requirements, but were not able to agree to a live in care arrangement. The Care Provider suggested Mr X contact an alternative provider. They informed him they could provide two twelve-hour shifts. The Care Provider informed Mr X that its care charges were £15.25 per hour. Mr X explained that his mother was still in hospital and her care needs had not been discussed.
12. On 7 June, Mr X contacted the Care Provider and requested details of the carers. Mr X said he wanted to meet the carers and then he would select them himself. The Care Provider said it would need to complete an assessment with Mrs Y before allocating carers.
13. On 14 June, Mr X informed the Care Provider that Mrs Y would be discharged from hospital soon. He said his brother would be the primary carer and the carers would support him and carry out domestic tasks.
14. On 16 June, the Care Provider visited Mr X at home. Mrs Y was still in hospital. Mr X provided a task list for the carers to complete. This included supporting Mr X’s brother to provide personal care and transfer from bed to chair and bed to commode. In addition, carers were required to support and assist with maintaining a clean environment; prepare meals of Mrs Y’s preference; support Mrs Y with eating and fluids and ensure she was comfortable before leaving.
15. Mr X told the Care Provider that he was paying for the care and asked it to reduce the hourly rate to £14.40. The Care Provider agreed.
16. On the same day, Mr X contacted the Care Provider and said Mrs Y was being discharged from hospital at 1:30 p.m and requested carers to attend at 3:30 p.m. The Care Provider said that it needed to meet with Mrs Y before commencing care and could not allocate carers without advanced notice. Mr X told the Care Provider that his brother would be the primary carer and would appreciate a carer that could support him that afternoon. The Care Provider arranged for Carer A to attend.
17. On 17 June, the Care Provider sent Mr X a copy if its contract and terms and conditions. The Care Provider contacted Mr X to check he had received the paperwork. Mr X said he was happy with Carer A. Mr X signed the contract on 20 June.
18. The Care Provider provided care for Mrs Y until September 2022. During this period Mr X raised concerns about staff being inadequately trained to care for Mrs Y, staff attitude and the duration of visits.
19. On 3 September, Mr X contacted the Care Provider about the staff rota for the weekend and evening calls for the following week. Mr X questioned the rota and asked why particular carers were not available. He said if no experienced carers were available, he would get emergency carers for the evening call. Mr X said he expected the Care Provider to reimburse him for the difference in costs. The Care Provider explained that it had discussed the staff rota with Mr X’s brother. Mr X said the Care Provider was proposing to send in a carer that he had not seen, and this was a safeguarding issue. Mr X said he would use emergency carers until the Care Provider was able to provide suitable carers.
20. On the same day, the Care Provider sent Mr X a letter confirming that it was suspending the service as Mr X had emergency carers in place. The Care Provider said Carer B would cover the lunch call that day. The Care Provider said it was happy to resume the service once Mr X had settled the invoices from the previous month and sent a copy of Mrs Y’s National Health Service (NHS) assessment and palliative care plan. It would then send Mr X a revised contract and amended rate in accordance with Mrs Y’s needs.
21. On 5 November, the Care Provider met with Mr X to discuss the concerns he had raised in August. Mr X asked why Carer A and Carer B were no longer on the rota. The Care Provider explained that Carer A was absent from work and Carer B had refused to care for Mrs Y. The Care Provider said Mr X and his brother had refused to pay Carer B overtime. Mr X explained that on several occasions Carer B left two to five minutes early and therefore the overtime should be adjusted accordingly. The Care Provider said Carer B always completed her tasks and took permission from the family before leaving.
22. Mr X said that Carer C was not experienced enough and yet she had been assigned to his mother who required palliative care. The Care Provider shared the carers qualifications and experience with Mr X and explained Carer C was suitably qualified.
23. The Care Provider said it had proved difficult to continue caring for Mrs Y because Mr X had pointed out faults in every carer, not paid overtime, asked too many questions about the carer’s personal lives and asked them to work for him privately. In addition, carers had said they didn’t feel comfortable working for Mrs Y and had refused the care visits. The Care Provider said Mr X had still not provided details of Mrs Y’s NHS assessment, her care needs and funding arrangements.
24. I will now consider Mr X’s specific issues of complaint, made to the Ombudsman.

Mr X says care workers were not appropriately trained in palliative care, hoisting or continence care.

25. I have reviewed the training records for the carers, and I have found no evidence to support Mr X’s assertion the carers were not adequately trained to carry out the tasks set out in Mrs Y’s care plan. Furthermore, Mr X had not shared the NHS assessment with the Care Provider and therefore it did not have a full understanding of Mrs Y’s needs and how she should be supported.

Mr X said the Care Provider terminated the care package without notice.

26. I have reviewed the correspondence between Mr X, his brother and the Care Provider. Mr X first expressed his dissatisfaction in August, when he complained about several carers. While I understand that Mr X had specific requirements about the carers that attended to Mrs Y, the Care Provider could only work with the staffing resources it had available at the time and it did its best to match the needs expressed but Mr X remained unsatisfied. It is clear the relationship between Mr X and the Care Provider had broken down and it always remained open to Mr X to change provider if he wished. I appreciate Mr X may have found it difficult to source a different provider however it remained that he was free to do so. In this case, Mr X said he would get emergency carers and told the Care Provider not to send any carers until more experienced carers were available.
27. From the evidence I have seen, this appears to be a mutual decision as the Care Provider could not provide the staff Mr X wanted. The Care Provider was reassured that Mrs Y was not left without care or at risk as Mr X confirmed he would get emergency carers in place. Based on the circumstances, I find the Care Provider did not act unreasonably in suspending the contract with immediate effect and no injustice was caused to Mrs Y.

Invoices

28. Mr X complained that on:

• 2 July 2022, a care worker did not attend a lunchtime/afternoon call;
• 4 July 2022, a carer attended an induction call. Mr X said he should not be charged for this; and
• In July 2022, a carer was ill for one of the calls and was unable to assist with Mrs Y’s care. Mr X said he should not be charged for this.

29. In response to our enquiries the Care Provider has confirmed that Mr X has not been charged for the above calls. I am satisfied with the action already taken by the Care Provider.

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Final decision

30. I have found no evidence of fault by the Care Provider. I have completed my investigation on this basis.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman