Sandstone Care has agreed to reduce the outstanding balance of a former resident by 50% as a gesture of goodwill following a complaint of a lack of clarity over charges.

The former resident accrued a debt of £6,470 when they failed to pay private fees due to a delay in being told they no longer qualified for council funding.  

The Ombudsman found fault with the care provider for taking five months to initially issue the resident with its service user handbook detailing fee levels.

Sandstone took a further five months to chase up the council after it determined the resident should self-fund his care and ended its contract with the care provider in August 2021.

The Ombudsman found fault with the delay in clarifying costs with the resident and his family noting they were not told they were a private funder until February 2022, six months after the council ended their contract. A new contract was not issued by the provider until April 2022.  

A spokesperson for Sandstone Care said: “We provided the Ombudsman with all the information that was requested and accepted the decision.

“As a goodwill gesture, we offered to reduce the outstanding balance by 50%, which the Ombudsman felt was more than satisfactory to settle the matter.

“At Sandstone Care, we always put the care of our residents and their families at the centre of our decision making and we are happy to accept responsibility if we fall short of our high expectations.

“We have taken lessons from this complaint and reviewed and changed our processes.”