Report on a joint PHSO and LGO investigation into complaint numbers JW–1999678 and 14006021 about Sheffield Health and Social Care Foundation Trust and Sheffield City Council
The Council was directed to reimburse Ms D £14,000.00 being the sum she had spent on care, pay £12,000.00 compensation on account of Ms D’s lack of social care and pay her a further £1,000.00 for distress
The Ombudsmen’s decision
Summary: The Trust and the Council did not work quickly to provide a remedy to Ms D after her complaint was upheld in March 2014. So Ms D, a double amputee with significant mental health needs, has not had access to appropriate social care support for over 12 months, and had the stress of continuing to pursue a complaint which should have been resolved much sooner. The Trust and the Council should apologise, pay Ms D £12,000 to acknowledge the impact on her of their faults, reimburse the additional expenses she incurred, and take steps to avoid such a situation happening again.
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Recommendations
64. In accordance with the Principles for Remedy, we make our recommendations on the basis that, where possible, the complainant should be returned to the position they would have been in if there had been no fault. If that is not possible, the complainant should receive a payment that acknowledges the impact of the fault. We therefore recommend the Trust and Council:
•Write to Ms D to apologise for the faults identified in this decision, and the distress these faults caused, within one month
•Reimburse Ms D £14,000 for the costs she incurred in buying support that should properly have come from her SDS budget, covering the period January 2014 to February 2015 inclusive
•Agree Ms D’s monthly SDS budget as a matter of urgency and ensure that payments are made within three months at the latest and backdated appropriately
•Pay Ms D £12,000 to acknowledge the impact on her of not having an adequate SDS budget in place. We have arrived at this figure by considering Ms D’s vulnerability, the impact on her daily life, and the length of time she has been affected
•Pay Ms D a further £1,000 to acknowledge the avoidable stress and frustration, and her justifiable outrage, from having to continue to pursue her complaint
•Disregard these payments when assessing Ms D’s financial contribution to her SDS budget
•Produce an Action Plan within three months addressing the faults listed under paragraph 57 in this report, and setting out what action has and will be taken to address them.