Home > Publications > Selected Cases - Health >
Selected Investigations Completed October 1997 - March 1998 > Part I, Case no. E.61/96-97
Matters considered: Handling of solicitor’s correspondence - delay - quality of response given
Complaint against: Gwent Health Authority
Summary of case
In May 1990 Mrs Z was discharged from St Lawrence Hospital, Chepstow to a private nursing home. Having tried unsuccessfully to obtain help from the Department of Social Security, two of Mrs Z’s sons, acting through their solicitor, asked the Authority in December 1993 and again in June 1994 to accept responsibility for their mother’s nursing home fees which by the time she died, in November 1995, amounted to some £39,000. The Authority placed the matter in the hands of their solicitors. No substantive reply was made to the sons; and in August 1996, their solicitor began legal proceedings. But these were discontinued in October 1996 when legal aid was refused. At that point the Authority’s solicitors declined to conduct any further investigation and the sons complained to the Ombudsman that their original request was never answered.
Findings
The investigation found that the Authority had no record of receiving the original request, but that when the request was repeated in June 1994 it was referred to the Authority’s solicitors: it was the Authority’s practice, at the time, to deal with all solicitors’ letters as legal issues rather than complaints. Despite repeated requests, the Authority’s solicitors were unable to obtain sufficient information from the Authority to enable them to reply to the sons’ solicitor. There were considerable delays in the exchanges between the Authority’s solicitors and the Authority, some of which occurred when staff were trying to locate Mrs Z’s medical records. The Ombudsman concluded that the Authority had failed in their responsibility to monitor and control matters which were placed in the hands of their solicitors.
Remedy
The Authority apologised and made an ex gratia payment of £3,090 to cover the excess solicitors’ costs the sons had incurred and they agreed to make sure that in future they retained adequate management control of matters which they placed in the hands of their solicitors. They agreed, as a matter of urgency, to make whatever further enquiries were necessary to respond clearly to the sons about whether or not the Authority were prepared to accept any responsibility for the nursing home fees.
Previous < Contents > Next
Full text of this investigation
Back to top
|
