Agency working on behalf of Shropshire Council 'failed in its care of an elderly lady'

An agency working on behalf of Shropshire Council failed in its care of an elderly lady, it has been ruled.

Referred to as Mrs Y, the senior citizen had a fall in her bedroom on April 27, 2024. Camera footage showed two carers arriving at her home in the morning. One went upstairs and the other remained downstairs completing notes.

Mrs Y was seen mobilising without support and without her walking frame, which the carer failed to place in front of her.

Noticing his wife had fallen, Mr Y asked if she was ok, while a carer spoke to her about getting herself up. However, the carers did not record the fall in the faily care records and neither sought medical advice. Instead, they reported ‘all was well’.

Mrs Y’s daughter, Mrs X, only found out about the fall when her mother told her the next day. She therefore contacted the care agency to complain.

However, she said they did not respond, so she contacted the council’s safeguarding team to report abuse/neglect by the two carers. She also contacted the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Shropshire Council instigated initial safeguarding enquiries, with an officer from the safeguarding team contacting Mrs X to discuss her concerns. Mrs x provided camera footage, photographs of bruising to Mrs Y and copies of the care notes for the morning in question.

An urgent review of Mrs Y’s needs was arranged, with her family only able to provide short-term support. A safeguarding officer from the council contacted the care agency to discuss the allegations and the camera footage.

The agency subsequently terminated the contracts of both carers involved and reminded all staff of its policy and procedures for reporting incidents and completing daily care records.

It also identified areas of learning from the events, saying its training procedures in relation to manual handling would be amended. The care agency informed the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) about the conduct of the two carers involved.

Shropshire Council was satisifed with the action taken and informed Mrs X, stating that its had completed its investigation alongside that of the CQC.

However, Mrs X was dissatisified by how the matters were handled, both by the care agency and the council. She felt the agency failed to follow its own complaint procedure and there had been no ackowledgement of the events, reassurance or apology offered to Mrs y.

In response, Shropshire Council said the concerns were with under safeguarding and not under its formal adult social care complaints procedure,

Mrs X was dissatisifed with this and believed the complaint to be unfinished. She therefore complained to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman.

The Ombsundsman said it had no criticism of the actions taken by the care agency; however ‘it felt short of expected standards’ in communicating with Mrs X and keeping her updated.

“The care agency dealt with the Mrs X’s complaints under its HR policy, rather than its complaints’ procedure, which is a decision it is entitled to take,” said the Ombudsman.

“Given the care agency acknowledged failings by the carers, and dismissed them both, there was little to achieve from any further complaint investigation.

“I also note the care agency identified lessons learnt from the complaint. Where the care agency fell short was communicating the reasons for its decision to Mrs X.

“Had the care agency met with Mrs X to explain the basis of its actions, then she may have been reassured her concerns had been properly acted on.”

The Ombudsman added that the council’s actions ‘were appropriate and proportionate’, stating that there was no fault in its decision not to progress the safeguarding investigation beyond initial enquiries.

The Ombudsman said that the councol should request the care agency to provide Mrs X with a formal written apology for the failings of the two carers, and for not keeping her updated.

A Shropshire Council spokesperson has confirmed this has now happened.

“The council is satisfied that the care provider has identified learning in relation to the incident, both in relation to training procedures to minimise the chances of any reoccurrence and in relation to communication with families following concerns being raised,” said the spokesperson.