Council Ordered To Pay Care Costs

A local authority has been ordered to reimburse the cost of a 90-year-old’s free personal care, following an inquiry by a public services watchdog. Argyll and Bute Council said a lack of funds meant it was not able to fund the man’s care between February and June.

The man’s son complained to the Public Services Ombudsman after the Scottish Executive said the council had been given sufficient funding.

The watchdog said the case had raised concerns over policy implementation.

The elderly resident, who was named as Mr A in the report, had a care needs assessment in December 2005.

At the time, Mr A’s wife, who was his principal carer, applied for free personal care funds to assist with care home costs before arranging his place within a home.

However, in February, the council said Mr A would not receive any funds as its allocation had already been spent.

When Mr A complained to the executive, he was told it was the council’s responsibility to ensure adequate resources were available to meet the needs of elderly residents.

A complaint against the council was upheld by the watchdog, while the claim the executive “had failed to ensure that the council provided a service” was not upheld.

Ombudsman Alice Brown welcomed an executive review of free personal care.

However, she said: “I am concerned that the inevitable time delay in conducting such a comprehensive review does not address the immediate problems of the many individuals like Mr A who have been assessed as eligible but are subsequently denied funding for an indeterminate period of time.”

She said she would highlight the case to the executive “to illustrate the real and practical difficulties” encountered by some citizens which the policy was meant to benefit.