From Community Care.
A council has been criticised for
reducing the care and support packages of two brothers without telling their mother the reason for the decision.
The brothers, aged 10 and 11, both have autism and were receiving
care packages from Lewisham council’s children’s services, which each
included seven hours a week in short break payments, and 24 nights a
year in respite accommodation.
The Local Government Ombudsman found that a social worker had
reviewed the boys’ care without giving the mother a chance to comment,
and had taken the report straight to the council’s care package panel,
which decided to reduce their care.
The panel decided that the younger boy did not need respite
accommodation, and also cut his direct payments from seven hours a week
to four. It also reduced the older boy’s respite stays from 24 nights to
12, the investigation found.
The ombudsman criticised the council for failing to give the mother a
copy of the assessment, or the reasons for the changes to her sons’
care, and for its delay in taking her complaint through the statutory
children’s complaint procedure.
He told the council to pay the woman £550 in recognition of the
distress caused to her and said it should make the panel decision-making
process more transparent.
The council has accepted the ombudsman’s recommendations.
‘No explanation’
The ombudsman’s investigation found that in early 2015, the council
wrote to the mother to confirm the original care package for the younger
boy.
However, a few months later, it contacted her again to say that the
respite provider could not say when the boy would get this provision
because of its waiting list.
In January 2016, a social worker from the council’s children with
complex needs team undertook the review of both boys’ care. At the end
of that month, she took the assessment to the care package panel, which
is made up of managers from the service.
The ombudmsan investigation found that the social worker had failed
to involve the mother in the assessment, or provide her with a copy to
check. The social worker also gave “no explanation or reasons” for the
panel’s decision to reduce the boys’ care.
“The failure to give reasons meant she [the mother] had no
understanding of why the council wanted to change her sons’ care
package,” the ombudsman’s report said.
“This caused frustration and a loss of confidence in the council.”
‘Incorrect procedure’
The mother complained to the council in February 2016.
The ombudsman found the council at fault for responding under its
corporate complaints procedure, when it should have used the statutory
children’s complaints procedure.
When the ombudsman challenged this, the council was slow to arrange
for the complaint to go through the correct procedure, the report said,
and it also failed to keep the mother updated on what was happening with
her complaint.
The ombudsman also criticised the council for missing the statutory
timescale for dealing with the complaint. The ombudsman found that it
took eight months, from the council accepting it had used the wrong
procedure in August 2016, for completing stage 2 of the process (the
investigation). This should normally take 25 days working days (or up to
65, in exceptional circumstances).
The ombudsman’s report recommended that the council conduct a review
of the operation of its procedures for identifying and dealing with
complaints involving children and young people, to ensure it meet its
statutory duties in the future.
It also said that the council should make the care package panel
decision-making process more transparent, by sharing assessments with
all parties before the panel meets, and ensuring that the panel gives
written reasons for its decisions.
‘No input in review’
Michael King, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:
“In this case, the children’s situation had not changed, but Lewisham
council reduced the level of care it provided. The mother has been left
upset about not knowing why their support was reduced, or having any
kind of input in its review.”
He added that councils “should know by now” how to identify a
children’s services complaint and use the correct process, which has
been in place for over 10 years.
A Lewisham council spokesperson said: “We accept the ombudsman’s
findings and we are acting on the recommendations and have apologised.
“We have already reviewed our processes and procedures that are in place to ensure this situation doesn’t happen again.”
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2017/09/08/council-criticised-cutting-care-packages-two-brothers-explanation/
