The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council managed contact with her. There is not enough evidence this issue alone would amount to fault and we cannot consider the substantive issue it relates to, which is her contact with her sister.
The complaint
Mrs X complains her sister’s care provider and the Council have put restrictions on her contact with them, as they say she was abusive over the telephone. This has impacted her mental health and she has been denied contact with her sister. She wants her sister to be removed from the care home, the care home to be closed and contact between her and her sister to be reinstated.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We decided in January 2021 that the Court of Protection would be better placed to consider a complaint Mrs X brought about contact with her sister, who lives in residential care. This complaint repeats some of those concerns. We will not consider Mrs X’s contact with her sister, and it remains open to her to seek legal advice and apply to court.
In addition, this complaint is about the Council’s communication with Mrs X. She says the Council, and the care provider at its request, have placed restrictions on her ability to contact them. The Council says it did not ask the care provider to block her calls. The Council has held some communication with Mrs X via email, albeit not in as much detail as she requested. She remains unclear about the allegation she says the Council made, that she was abusive over the telephone.
There is not enough evidence that we would find the Council’s actions in this respect alone amounted to fault if we investigated. Any steps the Council has taken to manage contact with Mrs X are peripheral to the main issue, which is contact with her sister. The outcomes she seeks are not things we can achieve, as they relate to her contact with her sister.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman