Decision Report 201809536

Summary

Mr and Mrs C complained about the partnership's management of their adult son's care (Mr A). Mr A's care was managed by the partnership for a number of years. The partnership moved Mr A's care away from his family base when they came to the view that the level of support he required could not be provided at that location. Mr and Mrs C complained that this was unreasonable and appropriate actions were not taken to allow Mr A's care to be provided closer to his family's home.

We took independent advice from a social worker. We found that the partnership attempted to provide the support Mr A required close to home, and when this was not possible, appropriate steps were taken to ensure that he received the care he required elsewhere. The partnership reasonably communicated with Mr and Mrs C about the decisions that were being made and listened to their views. The partnership took reasonable steps to ensure Mr A was appropriately placed and received appropriate support. We did not uphold this aspect of the complaint.

Mr and Mrs C also complained about the response to their complaint. The complaint was formed as a series of questions. The partnership's complaints handling procedure states that, where appropriate, the partnership should discuss the complaint with the complainant to understand why they are dissatisfied and what outcome they are looking for. As the partnership failed to clarify Mr and Mrs C's complaint, discuss the outcomes they were seeking by pursuing the complaint, and failed to clearly explain their findings, we upheld this aspect of the complaint.

Recommendations

What we asked the organisation to do in this case:

• Apologise to Mr and Mrs C for failing to provide a reasonable response to their complaint. The apology should meet the standards set out in the SPSO guidelines on apology available at www.spso.org.uk/information-leaflets .

In relation to complaints handling, we recommended:

• The partnership should contact complainants to clarify complaints and outcomes where necessary before investigating a complaint.
• The partnership should ensure complaints investigated result in findings which are clearly communicated to complainants.

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.