Greensleeves Care has been asked to apologise and pay £100 after the ombudsman found fault with its complaint handling.

The decision was taken following a complaint by a Mrs X regarding her husband, Mr Z, who was a resident at the Orchards Care Home between May 2020 and August 2022.

Mr Z, who had a diagnosis of vascular and frontal lobe dementia, was given notice to leave the home after he was alleged to have hit another resident on 5 July 2022.

Having been given 28 days’ notice to leave, Mr Z was witnessed hitting a resident on 8 August 2022. He was transferred to another placement where died in October 2022.

Mrs X complained about the decision to end her husband’s care and how her complaint was handled by Greensleeves. The ombudsman found no fault with the care provider for its decision to end Mr Z’s care or how it gave notice.

Fault was found with how Mrs X’s complaint was handled, however. The ombudsman found no evidence Greensleeves had given a formal complaint response to Mrs X and had not explained the reasons it could not uphold the complaint. Greensleeves was also found at fault for not referring Mrs X to the ombudsman. The ombudsman also found the care provider had failed to give Mrs a copy of a previous care plan and details of other incidents.

Greensleeves agreed to apologise for the fault identified, pay £100 for distress caused and review its complaints process.