The complaint

The young person, with the assistance of his Guardian ad Litem, brought a complaint to the Office regarding several issues he had brought to the HSE as part of a complaint. He felt that he had not received an adequate response from the HSE. He had made a complaint stating that he thought that his emergency foster placement was inappropriate and lasted longer than was intended. Issues about how he was treated at that placement were unresolved and he felt the lack of progress regarding the breakdown of this placement, and his subsequent complaint, led to a delay in his aftercare plan being arranged and implemented.

OCO examination

The Office had extensive contact with HSE Consumer Affairs, as well as the Principal Social Worker of the HSE Social Work Team involved. On examination of the case the Office found that there was an on-going internal HSE investigation into the temporary foster placement used in this case. It was advised that this impacted on the examination of the complaint made by the young person. However, it transpired that the young person was given no indication of this and was left to feel that his concerns were not being taken seriously.

Another issue which came to light in the examination of this complaint related to the transfer of files between social work teams working in different counties. It became apparent that, for a significant time while this young person was in foster care, his case was being managed by a team which was not his local social work team.

The Office gave notice to the HSE that an investigation may be warranted into this complaint. However, the HSE responded by giving certain commitments which the young person was happy with and which clarified future practices within the HSE. The young person was met by the Principal Social Worker concerned and given an explanation of the various aspects of his case and also given an apology regarding any practices which may have made him feel that his original concerns were not taken seriously by the HSE.

Outcome

As a result of this the Office did not proceed to investigation and made recommendations which were responded to positively by the Office of the National Director, HSE. Commitments were made to improve complaint handling regarding young people in care and policy guidelines have been issued. It was accepted that emergency placements should not be used for longer than is necessary and should not be a replacement for proper care planning. The Office was also advised that the issue of the transfer of case files is under review and the difficulties highlighted in this case would feed into this review process.

Posted in: Investigations State