Healthcare Homes has been accused of lacking “professional curiosity” after taking five months to bill a resident after wrongly assuming he was eligible for local authority fees.

The care home operator was instructed to reduce a family’s bill for unpaid fees by 50% following a complaint from a former resident of Hillcroft House Care Home to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman said the provider had “allowed the situation to drift” for taking so long to establish the resident was not eligible for local authority fees and then handing them a bill of over £20,000 on February 2021.

Having received the bill, the resident, referred to as Mr X, immediately gave notice he was leaving. He left the home one month later in March 2021 having paid his fees from the date of his notice.

The Ombudsman instructed Healthcare Homes to reduce the amount owed by the resident for the period from 1 October 2021 to 16 February 2022 by 50% and send an invoice for this new amount.

Healthcare Homes told us Suffolk County Council had now agreed to refund the fees, commenting: “Following the Ombudsman’s decision regarding the settlement of Mr X’s care fees, the matter has since been resolved between the council and Healthcare Homes. The council have now agreed to settle in full Mr X’s care fees up to the date that Mr X was formally advised that he would be responsible for his care fees.

“At Healthcare Homes our primary concern is always the care, support and wellbeing of our residents and their families and we have revisited our procedures as recommended by the Ombudsman’s report.”

A spokesperson for Suffolk County Council said: “The council accepts the finding of the Ombudsman, and notes that no fault was found in its handling of this case. The council supports all independent care providers in Suffolk to deliver high quality care, and manage their business appropriately.”