Summary: A care home acting on behalf of the Council wrongly disposed of Mrs Y’s personal belongings after her death. This caused significant distress to her family.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains a care home discarded her late mother’s belongings.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. This means we can treat the actions of the care provider as if they were the actions of the council in those cases (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’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 have:

• considered the complaint and discussed it with Ms X;
• considered the correspondence between Ms X and the Council, including the Council’s response to the complaint;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the responses;
• taken account of relevant legislation;
• offered Ms X and the Council an opportunity to comment on a draft of this document, and considered the comments made.

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What I found

Relevant legislation

6. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 applies to care providers. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors, inspects and regulates adult care services providers to ensure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety

What happened

7. Ms X’s mother, Mrs Y, had lived at Piper Court Care Home for 6 years. She sadly passed away in April 2020. Her family were told they would not be able to collect her possessions from the home for many months because of the pandemic.
8. On 29 January 2021, the care home told Ms X that its handyman had thrown Mrs Y’s belongings in a skip. Ms X says the family lost items of sentimental value which cannot be replaced. She says the care home did not have an up to-date record of all Mrs Y’s possessions, so it underestimated what had been lost. She says the care home returned a box of Mrs Y’s photographs, the frames were broken, and the glass shattered. She says this caused much heartbreak.
9. Ms X’s brother submitted a formal complaint to the care provider on 8 February 2021, but neither he nor Ms X submitted a complaint to the Council. The family also contacted their local MP, who contacted the care provider on their behalf.
10. The care provider says it telephoned the family the same day the events came to light to apologise. It says an apology in person was also given when a family member visited Mrs Y’s husband, who still resides at the care home. It says a meeting was not arranged due to the pandemic, but on reflection a zoom meeting should have been offered.
11. Ms X is dissatisfied with the way the care provider investigated the matter. She says it has been matter-of-a-fact and showed no sincere remorse or empathy. She says its offer of £375, described goodwill gesture, is in insult.
12. The care provider responded to the complaint in writing on 11 March 2021. Ms X’s brother was dissatisfied with the response, so he contacted the care provider again. The care provider sent a second, more detailed complaint response. I have had sight of this letter dated 1 April 2021. The author addressed each point of the complaint and said lessons would be learnt. The author went onto say “A calculation of the resale of the belongings was calculated from the belongings list, as stated in my prior letter this amount cannot bring back your mother’s belongings however we believe the sum of £375 is a fair offer to substitute for the loss of belongings”.
13. The care provider acknowledges it did not have an up to-date record of Mrs Y’s belongings. In response to my enquiries, it said “…other items may have been brought into the home, unfortunately the record of belongings had not been updated. As some items were unreachable and had been damaged by placing the items within the skip it was very hard to determine whether the list of belongings was still correct at that point in time”. It has implemented new procedures, all personal items taken into the care home are now electronically recorded and valuable items are photographed and logged.
14. In response to my enquiries, the Council says had it “…been involved in the complaint process a more robust response would have been given and more consideration given to a financial remedy for the distress caused as well as the financial loss of personal belongings”.

Analysis

15. When local authorities commission care services for a person they remain liable for the service failures of the service provider. So even though Ms X complains about the care provider for the most part the Council is vicariously liable for the faults of the care provider.
16. The care home acknowledges that Mrs Y’s personal belongings were wrongly disposed of after her death. To find a loved one’s belongings in a skip is inexcusable. It is without doubt that this caused untold distress to the family.
17. Although the complaint response provided by the care home addresses the points raised, it fails to offer an unreserved sincere apology. The payment offered is also insufficient.
18. The care provider acknowledges it failed to keep an up-to-date inventory of Mrs Y’s belongings. This added to the family’s distress and frustration. The care provider has implemented new systems to ensure such a situation is not repeated, and I consider this action to be adequate.
19. However, the remedy offered is inadequate. It fails to take account of the impact of the events on the family at a time they were grieving for their mother. It also fails to acknowledge the loss of sentimental items which cannot be replaced.

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Agreed action

20. To remedy the injustice caused to Ms X the Council will, within one month of the final decision:

• provide Ms X with a written apology for the failings set out above
• make a payment to her £300 to acknowledge her distress, and
• £500 to acknowledge the loss of sentimental items, and,
• £250 to acknowledge the time and trouble she has been put to pursuing this complaint.

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Final decision

21. There is evidence of fault in this complaint. A care home acting on behalf of the Council wrongly disposed of Mrs Y’s personal belongings after her death.
22. The above recommendations are a suitable way to remedy the injustice caused.
23. It is on this basis; the complaint will be closed.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman