LGO attacks council for charging family top-up fees for residential care

The Local Government Ombudsman has criticised a local authority for wrongly charging the family of an elderly woman ‘top-up’ fees for her residential care.

The family had been told they needed to find a nursing home placement to allow the woman to leave hospital. She had been admitted after suffering a stroke.

Her daughter was unable to find a care home at Southampton City Council’s ‘usual rate’ that met her mother’s assessed needs.

As a result the family had to choose a home where the rates where higher. The council then sought to charge top-up fees of £187.56 per week.

The LGO, Dr Jane Martin, said that in line with Government guidance, Southampton “should have paid to accommodate the woman elsewhere and should not have sought additional fees beyond the assessed contribution”.

Southampton has accepted the Ombudsman’s findings and will implement her recommendations. It will therefore:

• "meet the full cost of the woman’s care in the care home from 31 July 2011 (less the assessed contribution she needed to pay);
• refund the top-up fees the family had paid from 31 July 2011 and pay them interest on those payments at the council’s standard interest rate;
• pay the family £500 to recognise the time, trouble and distress caused to them; and
• review the council’s guidance for staff regarding the availability of services at the council’s ‘usual rate’."

The local authority has also agreed, in the short term, to negotiate access to placements at the council’s ‘usual rate’ with key care home providers. In the medium term, it will hold discussions with care home providers to develop an agreement on fee levels.