Brighton & Hove City Council Criticised For Elderly Woman's Care Failures

A woman has been awarded a token £200 compensation payment for council failings in caring for her late mother.

The woman complained about Brighton and Hove City Council to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

The unnamed woman, referred to as Miss Y in a report by the ombudsman, was awarded the payment to recognise the “distress, uncertainty and frustration” after the council failed to review her late mother’s care needs and support.

Miss Y said that the council did not act when her mother – referred to as Mrs X – suffered a swelling of the ankle caused by a blood clot.

A review of Mrs X’s care and a safeguarding investigation were also delayed.

An unnamed council-employed care provider did not act on Mrs X’s swollen ankle or respond to her request for a care plan review, resulting in “significant distress” for both women.

Miss Y said that the council was also at fault for the failure of her mother’s personal alarm.

She said that her mother’s personal alarm did not work after she had a fall at the supported living scheme where she lived.

Mrs X had what was described in the ombudsman’s report as a “large care package” funded by the council. Care workers visited to help with tasks, including heating her food.

In August 2021, Miss Y asked the council to increase her mother’s care package to include welfare checks after breakfast and lunch.

The care provider agreed to one welfare check in September but stopped after a few days saying it was “unnecessary”.

In October 2021, Mrs X slipped out of her chair while alone at home and did not receive a response when she pressed her alarm. By this point, her care provider had contacted the council to say that she needed nursing care.

Mrs X was taken to hospital for treatment.

In November, Miss Y sent the council a safeguarding referral about the incident, raising her concerns.

She said that she had been passed between the care provider and the council for months – and care workers had ignored the swollen ankle that Mrs X developed in the days before she had to go into hospital.

Mrs X died in early December 2021. A blood clot was cited as one of the causes of death which Miss Y told the ombudsman’s investigator was the cause of her mother’s swollen ankle.

Despite being chased up several times, the council did not respond to Miss Y’s request for a safeguarding referral until April 2022.

The ombudsman’s investigator, who was also unnamed, said that the council was sorry and had changed its processes to ensure referrals that needed to be allocated to a social worker were acted on promptly.

The council accepted that the failure of the personal alarm caused distress and that care workers should have acted promptly to alert Mrs X’s GP or the district nurse to the swelling.

The council’s safeguarding investigation said that an extra 30 minutes of care had been agreed for Mrs X but there was no documented evidence.

The ombudsman’s report said:

“These faults caused Miss Y injustice in the form of distress, frustration, time and trouble – and have left her with a sense of uncertainty over what would have happened had the faults not occurred.

“This injustice cannot generally be remedied by a payment so we seek a symbolic amount to acknowledge the impact of the fault.”