Decision Report 201705622

Summary

Mrs C complained to the council about social work involvement in the care her late mother received whilst in a care home. Mrs C considered that the way the council handled her complaint was unreasonable and that the action plan they created as a result of the complaints investigation did not adequately address the failings identified.

We upheld Mrs C's complaint about the handling of her complaint as we found it had not been acknowledged within the appropriate timescales.

We took independent advice in relation to the council's action plan from a social work adviser. We found that whilst the action plan points themselves may have been reasonable, insufficient information had been supplied to Mrs C to allow her to understand how these had been implemented by the council. We also found that the action plan did not cover an area where failings had been identified. We considered this was unreasonable as the council had an adult support and protection role in this connection. We upheld this complaint and made recommendations to address the failings identified.

Recommendations

What we asked the organisation to do in this case:

• Apologise for the complaints handling failing and for failing to provide Mrs C with information to evidence how the action plan would be implemented. The apology should meet the standards set out in the SPSO guidelines on apology available at www.spso.org.uk/leaflets-and-guidance.
• Issue an amended action plan that shows how the council have learned from Mrs C's complaint and will prevent failings from recurring.

In relation to complaints handling, we recommended:

• Timescales for acknowledging complaints as set out in the complaints handling procedure should be met.

We have asked the organisation to provide us with evidence that they have implemented the recommendations we have made on this case by the deadline we set.