Councils, providers implement 1,300+ recommendations on adult social care: LGO

Councils and care providers implemented more than 1,300 recommendations in relation to adult social care in 2016/17, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s annual review of complaints in the area has revealed.

The LGO said that within these recommendations, councils and care providers made nearly 180 procedural changes and committed to train staff on nearly 50 occasions.

In some cases a single complaint led to a much wider investigation, the Ombudsman said. “Examples of this over the past year include one person’s complaint about the way a council charged for care leading to more than 60 people, who had been similarly affected, receiving refunds.”

In another case a couple complained about their council’s blanket policy to reduce the level of care it provided, and nearly 70 other families had their care reviewed following the LGO’s investigation.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “I want to highlight the power that one person speaking up can have in changing services for the better for everyone.

“Our recommendations not only put things right for individuals, but aim to help councils and care providers avoid the same problems affecting others. Where we think a fault was caused by a procedural or policy issue, we recommend ways to review and change those practices.”

In its report the LGO said it welcomed an increase in complaints received about independent care providers. “This reflects the growing importance the sector is placing on making the complaints process more visible and informing people of their rights to come to the Ombudsman.”

Responding to the review, Margaret Willcox, President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), said: “ADASS welcomes the publication of the Annual Review of Adult Social Care Complaints for 2016/17 by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. It is important that people who use services and their families have an opportunity to feed back so complaints can be addressed and rectified both for the individual in question, and for others.

“The report acknowledges that there has been a positive response from the sector at a time when it is facing well publicised challenges. Whilst recognising that there has been an increase in complaints over the year, the report does not directly correlate this to a dip in quality, instead welcoming the increase as a sign that the sector has listened to calls to make the complaints process more visible, and to inform people of their right to go to the Ombudsman.

“The report also notes that councils and providers have acted positively to implement recommendations for improvement and that this demonstrates a mature attitude, acknowledging fault and areas for improvement and encouraging feedback as a way of learning and improving services.”