Outsourcing Or Ouchsourcing?

(I'm grateful to my facebook folkie friend Melodeon Dan for inspiring the title of this post)

Earlier this year, after nearly twelve months of waiting for responses from various parts and officers of our Local Authority’s Adult Social Care department, Ferretfingers’ Support Plan and Budget was finally approved.  His, and to an extent my, care needs were assessed and he was awarded 150 points which translates into £150 per week from the Local Authority to spend on day centres, activities etc. 

The Plan covers one day a week at Community Care Day Centre and the same at Sunshine Farm, both of which charge roughly £50 per day.  At my request the balance is rounded up to pay for two or three weekends of respite care per year provided by a learning disability charity which I trust. 

For reasons I don’t quite understand, Sunshine Farm isn’t approved to get the full £50 from the Local Authority.  Ferretfingers has been financially assessed and is required to contribute towards this providers’ service.  For the past few years this has been £8.77 paid by standing order from my bank account into the Local Authority’s Direct Payment Scheme.

Last week we received a letter from the Local Authority’s Direct Payments Scheme Personalised, Payments and Recovery Team’s Personalised Support Officer (signed with a squiggle and no name given).  The opening paragraph of the letter read;-

“We have become aware that no contribution is currently getting paid into Ferretfingers’ Direct Payment account, it is essential that this happens so as not to let the Direct Payment account to become undermined.  Following a financial assessment the amount of Direct Payments changed.  You have been assessed as having to pay a personal contribution of £19.26 per week.

"The following chart sets out the Payments applicable to you from 08/01/2018.”

Then after a chart (incidentally as clear as mud)

“You will receive £30.74 per week as your Direct Payments for ongoing weekly services.  This is paid directly into the Pre Paid Current Account managed by <<Local Authority Name Redacted>> on your behalf to buy services to meet your assessed needs as detailed in your Support Plan.

"The Total Personal Contribution Amount (figure in bold) should be paid into your Direct Payments bank account weekly or monthly.”

There followed details of the account’s sort code, account number and name.

As I have plenty to do this letter was put to one side for when I had the strength and time to deal with it (or as we say in Wenglish ‘the hwyl’)

Then on Tuesday I was having the rare treat of a nice cup of tea and a chat in Patisserie Valerie with DrD when my mobile rang. It was the accounts guy at the Sunshine Farm asking me to chase <<Local Authority Name Redacted>> because they are so behind in their payments for Ferretfingers' service. When I got home I rang Direct Payments and spoke to the lovely Personalisation Support Officer (he is lovely honest, I find most frontline staff usually are when you speak to them).

It transpires that Ferretfingers' Personal Contribution hasn't been going in since last November because when they "changed the firm that administers the system" his details were somehow not transferred over.  So the Standing Order money went out of my account and bounced back in five days later.

Yesterday I went into my bank to sort out paying off the backlog (thankfully I have the funds) and organise another standing order.  The cashier, God bless her, was remarkably understanding and efficient once she’d worked out what the letter’s instructions meant.

As I’m not the sort of person to let these things lie I prepared and emailed what my brother calls a snottogram to the Local Authority (copied naturally to my local councillor).

“Further to your letter of 23/7/18 and our phone conversation yesterday please find attached a jpg of a receipt from my Bank confirming payment of £737.38 into <<Name Redacted Local Authority>>’s Direct Payments Scheme, being the backlog of Ferretfingers’ Personal Contributions since last November.  I have also put a new Standing Order in place to pay Ferretfingers’ reassessed Personal Contribution of £19.26 per week.

“I trust that Direct Payments will now be able to approve payment of outstanding invoices from Ferretfingers’ care providers, and pay them once the money has appeared on the account.

“My Bank has also cancelled the original Standing Order of £8.77 per week which, since last November has been returned into my account as <<Name Redacted Local Authority>> account had been closed.   Had <<Name Redacted Local Authority>> informed me that the account had been closed, and details of the new account, I would have been able to amend the Standing Order appropriately and immediately.  We would not be in the situation where Ferretfingers and I have had to find seven months of Personal Contributions in one lump sum, nor have providers waiting for payment.

“I am embarrassed that, by no fault of mine and with no knowledge, we have been placed in debt.

“I am also concerned that other service users, with less financial resources and ability than ourselves, have been placed in a similar position.”

Three things spring to mind

Firstly:  The “organisation that administers the Scheme” was changed and the account was closed last November and the “Payments applicable” dates from January; why didn't they contact me until July?

Secondly:  The changeover was back in November but nothing was done until they sent me a letter last week.  Even then the letter was worded with the somewhat accusatory “We have become aware that no contribution is getting paid into Ferretfingers’ Direct Payment account”.  May be if they’d sent me the new details it might have been.   

The Local Authority seem to have just not paid suppliers and left us all in the dark as to what the problem might be.

And thirdly

Ain't outsourcing wonderful?!


POSTSCRIPT
In fairness I think I should include the email reply we received this afternoon (last November has changed to April 2017, so that's fourteen months without them noticing no money going in).

"Further to your emails dated 08^th August 2018, thank you for informing us that the transfer of backdated contribution has been made, I can now confirm that the invoice has now been paid.

"First of all may I apologise on behalf of the council that this situation has caused you to feel embarrassed, this is certainly not a feeling we would ever want to cause someone.

"As I indicated during our call of the 7^th August 2018, on looking through the <<name redacted new outsourced adminstrators>> system no contribution payments have been received into this account from when this account started in April 2017 up to the present which is around the time the Council moved from using <<name redacted old outsourced adminstrators>>  to <<name redacted new outsourced adminstrators>>, this was due to the conclusion of the <<name redacted old outsourced adminstrators>> contract.

"I can confirm that around April 2017 a letter in email format was sent out to all <<name redacted old outsourced adminstrators>> account holders confirming and explaining the change of account and the need to reset up standing orders, however we can only assume in respect to your case something went wrong in this communication.

"Once again we apologise for this situation and thank you for bringing it to our attention and working with us to find a solution."