Mrs C complained about Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (“the Health Board”) and a registered Residential Care Provider (“the Care Provider”) which the Health Board had commissioned to provide care to her son, Mr A. The investigation looked at whether between November 2021 and October 2022, the Health Board failed to ensure that the needs stated in Mr A’s care plan were met by the Care Provider. In relation to the Care Provider, whether between November 2021 and October 2022 the Care Provider failed to ensure that it fully met Mr A’s needs, including those stated in his care plan.
The Ombudsman found that, overall, there was evidence of good collaboration and monitoring between the Health Board and the Care Provider. This was evidenced through regular reviews, which played an important part in the monitoring process and ensured that a placement met Mr A’s individual needs. The investigation found that TEACCH (originally stood for “Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communications Handicapped Children”. In its current form TEACCH stands for “Training, Expanding, Appreciating Collaborating and Co-operating and Holistic) in its purest form, was not used to manage Mr A, as the Health Board had confirmed that its standard practice was to use PBS (Positive Behaviour Support. PBS is a person-centred framework for providing long term support to people with a learning disability, and/or autism). This aspect of Mrs C’s complaint was not upheld.
The investigation found that whilst Mr A’s placement was not entirely based on the purest TEACCH model, there was evidence that principles of TEACCH were being used alongside PBS and we were satisfied that the Care Provider met Mr A’s needs as set out in his care plan. Therefore we did not uphold this aspect of Mrs C’s complaint.