Ombudsman criticises council over lack of clarity on care home costs

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has criticised a county council over its failure to tell a family about the possibilities available to them when their father, who has dementia and physical disabilities, was placed in a care home as an emergency.

The father had already been assessed as eligible for council funding when he was placed by Lincolnshire in emergency residential accommodation.

The LGO said the family were left with no option but to pay a ‘top-up’ fee, when Lincolnshire should have offered them the choice of a home which did not require the additional amount.

When the family struggled to pay the fees, the father was threatened with eviction. “Instead of realising its mistake and taking over the payments, the council put the burden on the man’s daughter to find another care home.”

The Ombudsman also found that Lincolnshire had unclear information about care home fees on its website.

It added that Lincolnshire was responsible for overseeing the administration of the ‘top-up’ fee. Even if the family had been obliged to pay the fee, the council had not offered them the option of paying direct to the council, rather than to the care home.

The LGO called on Lincolnshire to:

• acknowledge its faults and apologise to the family;
• reimburse the top up fee of £65 and pay the family £300 to reflect their distress and a further £300 for the time and trouble of bringing the complaint;
• review its procedures and top-up fee contract “to ensure people are offered the option to pay the top-up-fee directly to the council”;
• review its existing top-up agreements to bring them in line with the Care Act.

The Ombudsman said the case was a reminder to councils across England they must give families accurate information when placing relatives in care homes.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “Councils have a duty to provide accurate information to families about care home placements. This is particularly important at times such as this where families do not have the luxury of being able to plan for their relative’s care.

“We issued a focus report on this subject in 2015 and I would encourage anyone working in the field to have a look at the good practice guidance it contains, and check their own policies and procedures to ensure they comply with the Care Act.”