West Sussex County Council apologises for failing to properly assess woman's care needs
The authority has paid £250 after a complaint was upheld by the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman
West Sussex County Council has paid £250 to a woman after failing to carry out a proper assessment of the care needed by her adult daughter.
A complaint to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman said the council hadn’t carried out a comprehensive assessment of the daughter’s needs ‘for many years’.
The mother – known as Mrs P – added that recent reviews of ‘an already outdated assessment’ didn’t reflect the current or future needs of her daughter, leaving her with ‘an inadequate support plan’.
The first review, in 2020, was carried out by phone due to Covid restrictions, while Mrs P said the second in 2022 contained ‘inaccurate and out of date information’.
She made a formal complaint to the council in January and then – unhappy with the response – made another to the Ombudsman, which was upheld.
A report from the Ombudsman said: “We have found there was fault with the assessment.
“It was poorly written and did not address the issues we would expect.”
The report said the daughter – known as Miss X – has a number of diagnoses, including autism, and requires support with daily living.
She lives with her parents, who are both in their seventies.
Miss X receives a monthly budget of just over £2,500, which is used to pay for a personal assistant and attend a day centre.
Her mother felt this budget needed to be increased to just over £3,800 – a request the council said was ‘unrealistic’.
The report added that a new assessment was offered in July 2022 but Mrs P – who said she had ‘lost confidence’ in the council – refused.
The Ombudsman said it was ‘disappointing that the inadequacies of the 2022 review were not properly acknowledged during the complaints process’.
They added: “To the council’s credit, it offered to carry out a full reassessment as an outcome from the complaints process.
“But it is understandable why Mrs P was reluctant to agree when the council had not confirmed there had been problems with the previous reviews.
“I am confident that a comprehensive reassessment of care needs as suggested by the council will allow the case to progress in a positive way.”
The council has since apologised to Mrs P.
A spokesman said: “We accept the findings from the Ombudsman’s report and have actioned the recommendations which included an apology to the complainant and a small payment as remedy.
“A new assessment will be carried out to determine the care needs of the complainant’s daughter.”