Why carers who left elderly couple in soiled clothes were not named in damning report

The carers who left an elderly couple in soiled clothes and wet bedding have been kept anonymous to protect the family involved, it's been claimed.
The family will be paid 750 in compensation after they complained to the Ombudsman.The family will be paid 750 in compensation after they complained to the Ombudsman.
The family will be paid 750 in compensation after they complained to the Ombudsman.

A report last month by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which handles complaints about councils, slated hapless agency workers who were employed to help a married Wakefield couple get washed and dressed.

It was claimed the carers turned up late for appointments, used their phones while they should have been working and on one occasion left them in soiled clothes and wet bedding.

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Wakefield Council, who hired the agency, apologised last week after the report was published. They will also pay the family £750 in compensation.

But while the local authority publicly acknowledged the findings, the provider's details were not mentioned in the report.

Asked why this was the case, an Ombudsman spokeswoman said the agency involved was a small firm and they weren't named to protect the identity of the couple.

The original investigation was prompted by complaints from the couple's son and daughter, who were left "anxious" about the level of care their parents were receiving, the report said.

Local Democracy Reporting Service