An Ombudsman has upheld a complaint from a man in his 80s who was charged for home care services by Trafford council without his agreement. The authority also failed to carry out a financial assessment of the man, ‘Mr X’, and continued to send him invoices for care services he had cancelled.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said the council had agreed to apologise, cancel all outstanding care charges, make a symbolic payment and review its practices. Relevant law says that councils can charge for care and support services they provide or arrange, but that they must assess a person’s finances to decide what contribution they should make.
Authorities must make sure there is enough information available to ensure the person needing care can understand any contributions they are asked to make. In June 2021, the elderly man was admitted to hospital after a fall. In order to enable him to continue living at home independently the council arranged a period of short-term ‘reablement’ care at home provided by an agency.
