No fault in care and support of a mental health patient

What happened

Mr B was cared for in community supported living accommodation under the Care Programme Approach. His mental health deteriorated at times and he has to have help from various crisis teams and, at times, had been placed under sections 2 and 3 of the Mental Health Act. Mr B went to his Family when he deteriorated and could be difficult to manage.

Mrs A complained to the Trust about a lack of help and support for him and the family.  She said this lack of support had led to a decline in his mental health.  She felt that her son should have had compulsory rehabilitation treatment and 24–hour supervision to make sure he was taking his medication.  She also felt the care co–ordinator should have been more involved in providing help and support for them all.

What we found

We did not uphold the complaint. There was no evidence to support Mrs A's views that her son's care and treatment was poor and had led to a decline in his mental health.  We saw instances where the care and support provided could have been better, but we did not consider that these amounted to failings in the service provided.  Communication with the Family was not as good as it should have been, which led to distress for the Family in having to deal with Mr B.  However, we did not find this was a failing, because discussions did take place, and the Family were offered support.  The Trust acknowledged that communication could have been better, and apologised for the affect this had on the family.