Cambridgeshire County Council to pay compensation over 'unprofessional' carer

Cambridgeshire County Council is to compensate a family after a carer it commissioned acted "unprofessionally and hysterically"

Cambridgeshire County Council is to compensate the family of a woman whose carer "wailed" on the floor after she was told of her client's death.

The Local Government Ombudsman found care provider Regional Care had failed to call for medical help and the care worker acted "unprofessionally".

The council, which commissioned the agency, will pay her four children £1,500 each for the distress caused.

It said it was "deeply sorry" for their upset.

Regional Care said it did not wish to comment.

The ombudsman said the woman - named Mrs X in the report - lived on her own, had a number of medical conditions and visits from carers twice a day.

On 6 January 2022, she told one of her daughters on the phone she was in pain but that her carer had visited. Her daughter told her to ring for help.

Two days later, she told her daughter she was in a lot of pain in her stomach and back, could not get out of bed and was upset because she could not contact anyone for help.

Her daughter persuaded her mother to call 111 and she was taken by ambulance to hospital.

Mrs X was treated but died in the early hours of 11 January.

'Wailing and crying'

Her family complained to the ombudsman that the care provider had failed to alert them to their mother's deteriorating health and did not contact medical help, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The watchdog was told Mrs X's carer had also "screamed" when she was told by phone that Mrs X had died.

Arriving at the woman's bungalow shortly afterwards she "began banging on the wall screaming and wailing", her daughter told the ombudsman.

"She then ran into Mum's bedroom and started picking up Mum's clothes, hugging them and then flopped to the floor still wailing and crying.

"All we could do was just stand and stare at her."

The ombudsman said the carer's notes between 6 and 8 January did not mention that Mrs X was in pain and while two carers were providing her care, the notes were all in the same handwriting.

It added that Regional Care said the carer did not think Mrs X was in a lot of pain and had therefore not contacted the daughter or a doctor.

The company acknowledged that was unprofessional and the carer had been disciplined.

The ombudsman found Regional Care had failed to call medical help in good time and that the care worker "acted unprofessionally and reacted hysterically", causing more distress to the family.

It said the care provider had been suspended from taking on new service users.

A Cambridgeshire County Council spokesman said: "We fully accept the findings of the ombudsman's report and we are deeply sorry for the upset caused by the actions of the commissioned care provider.

"We were already working with the provider to review and improve their services.

"They have made good progress, the suspension has been lifted and we will continue to closely monitor their performance."