Case Ref: 24 003 980 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will circulate this decision to remind staff dealing with Education, Health and Care Plans of the importance of timely annual reviews, keeping proper records, issuing draft Education, Health and Care Plans before final Education, Health and Care Plans and providing appropriate transitional support.

Case Ref: 24 000 904 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Residential care

• The Council will share with us a copy of the smoking policy and telemedicine procedure which the care home updated following the complaint investigation.

Case Ref: 23 021 226 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Council agreed that further to this investigation it would issue a reminder to all staff trained to undertake continuing healthcare checklist assessments of the need to provide information about the checklist before undertaking the assessment; ensuring those assessed know they can have a representative present (such as a family member) during the assessment; and to provide information on the outcome of the assessment.

Case Ref: 23 019 207 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Direct payments

• Within three months of the final decision, the Council will send us confirmation it has changed its Direct Payments contracts to reflect the current legislation, or tells us when it will do so, and provide us with an updated copy.

Case Ref: 23 018 713 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has agreed to provide training or guidance to relevant staff on the Council’s duty to makealternative provision for children who cannot go to school for health reasons.
• The Council has agreed to ensure requests to the panel approving EOTAS include sufficient detail aboutthe consultations already made and provision considered to enable the panel tomake prompt and informed decisions about a child’s needs.
• The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that the Council has a duty to secure the provision in anEHC plan and must act if it is aware a school or other provider is not makingthis provision.
• The Council has agreed to identify andimplement measures to ensure the Council issues a Final amended EHC planfollowing annual review, giving the parent or young person the right to appealto the Tribunal.
• The Council has agreed to remind officers dealing with complaints that when the Council has got somethingwrong, it should consider the impact on the complainant and offer anappropriate remedy.

Case Ref: 23 017 736 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agreed to review the faults identified in this case and produce an action plan for steps it will take to ensure it:carries out Education, Health, and Care (EHC) needs assessments within statutory timescales, including where it concedes an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) about its decision not to carry out an assessment;properly considers its duty under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to provide alternative education as soon as it is aware a child is out of school, properly records its considerations, and keeps arrangements under review;meets its duty to immediately secure the special educational needs (SEN) provision in a final EHC Plan. This includes proper consideration of to what extent it can deliver the Plan where a child is out of school; andcommunicates properly with families of SEN children where they raise concerns and queries, and responds in good time.
• The Council agreed to issue a reminder to staff that respond to complaints about its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) service, about the importance of apologising to complainants where the Council accepts fault.

Case Ref: 23 010 996 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Council has agreed to provide training / reminders to relevant staff of the need to provide clear advice and explanations of the process to be followed when an increased care package is requested. And of the need to fully document the advice given.

Case Ref: 22 017 466 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council failed to identify a school for a child, failed to ensure the child received the provision in their Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, and has failed to issue a final Plan following the child's annual review. The Council has agreed to review this case and prepare an action plan setting out how it will ensure: annual reviews are carried out on time and, where it decides to amend an EHC Plan, the final Plan is issued within 12 weeks of an annual review meeting; andit retains oversight of children out of school not receiving education.

Case Ref: 22 017 137 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• In this case a hospital referred an elderly patient to the Council to consider what support he might need when he left hospital. We found the Council closed its case too soon, without having suitable discussions with the family about the available options and the financial implications of each. The Council agreed it would share the learning from this case with all of its staff that are involved in hospital discharge planning.

Case Ref: 23 006 153 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Residential care

• The Council failed to investigate a complaint about the level of care being provided by a care home. The Council will discuss this with the monitoring team and establish what action is required to address the failings by the care home and will follow this up with monitoring visits.
• The Council will consider lessons learned in respect of complaint investigation.