The Local Government Ombudsman has ordered the council to pay a resident thousands of pounds in compensation and issue a proper apology
A woman fractured her spine using a bed-turning aid installed by the NHS which Croydon Council thought could replace paid care workers for overnight care.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found against Croydon Council and ordered it to make amends to the resident, after someone at the local authority took a decision to withdraw funding for the woman’s night-time care.
In a statement issued by the Ombudsman’s office, they said: “The NHS instead installed a turning system. But she only used the system for two nights before injuring her lower back, leaving her in considerable pain.
A scan diagnosed her with a fractured spine.
“The woman, who uses a wheelchair and is dependent on care staff to meet her needs, originally received payments for care staff to help her overnight.”
The council stopped those payments in January 2022. “The council decided, after reassessment following [a] scan, that any overnight care should be paid by the NHS.
“But she would only receive this funding if she was in a nursing home.
Ordered to apologise: Croydon Council issued no statement nor published anything about the case on its website
“In September 2023, she told the council she had serious problems with deep pressure sores that were putting her health at risk because she was not being turned overnight.
“She was admitted to hospital in November 2023 and in January 2024 a professionals meeting was held which concluded the woman needed turning every three to four hours overnight. And although the council increased the funding the woman received for day-time care, it reiterated the NHS should fund overnight care.”
It was in April last year, after she had had another admission to hospital, that the woman filed a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman. “The council told the Ombudsman it had started funding night-time care from August 2024 and intended to claim the money back from the NHS.”
Amerdeep Somal, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “While the council and NHS were deciding who should be responsible for this woman’s care package, she was left without adequate care and support and was hospitalised on multiple occasions.
“If there is any question, once an assessment has been completed, of who is responsible for funding a care package, the person in need of support should never feel the impact of this on their health and welfare.
“The council should have considered putting in an interim plan while discussions were ongoing with the NHS.
Ombudsman: Amerdeep Somal
“I am pleased the council eventually came to this conclusion itself, but it should not have taken my intervention for this to happen.”
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services.
The council has agreed to review the woman’s direct payment and agree in writing how she can pay for her care in future, apologise to her and pay her £1,000 for the injustice.
It will also make a “symbolic” payment of £2,500 for the harm she experienced.
The Ombudsman has also ordered the council to remind relevant staff of the importance of effective complaint-handling and says the council “will put measures in place to ensure all direct payment accounts are reviewed every 12 months in line with guidance”.
Despite the Ombudsman’s settlement, more than a day since the findings in the case were published, Croydon’s “Digital First” council has failed to publish anything about the matter on its own website. It’s as if they are trying to pretend none of it ever happened…
Read more: Carers file mass complaint to CQC over council’s failures
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Read more: ‘Council is gas-lighting us over support services’ say carers
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