LGO Guidance on Council funded care and private arrangements

In response to a recent Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) case (relating to domiciliary care) we have been asked to clarify a concern around the practice of entering into private arrangements with individuals who are already receiving Council-commissioned care.

The LGO has made it clear that “care providers, already providing Council commissioned care for an individual, do not enter into private arrangements to provide care for that individual which should be funded by the Council under the Care Act”. This guidance is rooted in the principle that individuals eligible for publicly funded care should not be asked to pay privately for services that fall within the Council’s statutory duties.

Our domiciliary contract asks that you inform us if you believe provision is not adequate to meet the presenting needs of an individual:

“The Provider will inform the Council where through the delivery of care to an Adult they identify that the needs or outcomes of any Adult are not being met, or where an Adult makes a request for their Service to be provided in a way which would result in a material change to the agreement in place. Any request by a Provider for a subsequent review will be considered in line with the date of an Adults most recent formal review and the urgency of the need for the review”