LGO censures council for providing inadequate care

A Worcestershire resident suffered injustice by the county council over the care her father received in a nursing and rehabilitation unit, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has ruled.

Mrs X complained that Mr Y was not cared for properly at the Timberdine unit in Worcester.

These included complaints that his food and fluid charts were not completed, windows were left open so that he shivered and he was left with a deflated pressure mattress.

The ombudsman noted in his decision notice that Mr Y died from pneumonia five days after admission to Timberdine for rehabilitation because his mobility had deteriorated.

Mrs X said Timberdine should not have sent Mr Y to accident and emergency when he first arrived - where he had to endure a lengthy wait - which the home said it did because  he needed x-rays to rule out a fracture. Mrs X thought his symptoms were a result of an ulcer on his leg rather than a fracture.

The ombudsman concluded: “Generally, pressure ulcers occur because a person is not moving rather than being the cause. I therefore do not consider it was possible to conclude the ulcer was the cause, rather than a result of Mr Y’s decline in mobility rather than a possible fracture.”

He said Mr Y’s long wait to be attended at hospital as not Timberdine’s fault and nor could it have been expected to forecast how long Mr Y would have needed to stay for rehabilitation.

But the ombudsman said the council was at fault for failing to address Mrs X’s concerns fully and “she has been left with a lack of certainty that her concerns were taken seriously”.

He recommended that Worcestershire should consider an apology, and pay her £300, but Mrs X declined this compensation choosing instead to accept £72.50 for lost items of Mr Y’s clothing, which she donated to charity.

Adrian Hardman, cabinet member with responsibility for adult social care, said: "We accept the findings set out in the ombudsman report and we have apologised to the family.

"We have already acted on and actioned both recommendations made in the report. The points raised by the ombudsman have been discussed with managers in adult social care and lessons have been learned from this matter."