The Ombudsman and the CQC – new issue for local authorities?
- Edge Training
- Oct 6
- 1 min read
A recent Ombudsman finding against a local authority highlights how complaints to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman can then lead to the involvement of the CQC as the two bodies have a formal information sharing protocol.
In this case the Ombudsman found a local authority was at 'fault leading to injustice' when it failed to ensure that a woman's 64 hour a week 1:1 support plan was fully delivered. The Ombudsman found: 'There is no dispute over the fact Ms Y did not receive all the 1:1 support she had been assessed as needing. The evidence shows this was the Council’s fault, as it did not make it clear to the care home what support it expected it to deliver for the money it was paying it.' The local authority was ordered to pay the woman for the lost hours of support that were never provided.
At the end of the ruling the Ombudsman also states: 'Under the terms of our Memorandum of Understanding with CQC and information sharing protocol, I will send it a copy of my final decision statement.' Quite simply this means the CQC inspector for that local authority will be formally notified of this case and finding. The reasonable expectation is that the CQC could take this as a prompt for further action which could include a focussed inspection.
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