The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s safeguarding enquiry. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council’s safeguarding enquiry about his mother, Mrs Y, was disproportionate, prolonged and disordered. He says the allegation the Council’s actions were based on was untrue, and the Council could have established this via less intrusive means. This caused distress to Mrs Y while she was dying, and to the family. They want answers and transparency, as well as service improvements. They want accountability and an apology. They want action taken against the person who made the allegation.
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. (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
The Council received a safeguarding concern about Mrs Y, relating to her family’s management of her medication. Where there are concerns about abuse or neglect, the Council has a duty to make whatever enquiries it believes are necessary to decide whether any action should be taken. The guidance emphasises the importance of seeing and speaking to the vulnerable person at the earliest opportunity.
The Council decided it needed to speak to Mrs Y, as part of exploring whether there was any truth in the concerns it had received. Mr X is of the view the Council should have assured itself more of the validity of the concerns, before taking this action which he felt was intrusive and distressing to Mrs Y at the end of her life.
The Council had sufficient reason to speak with Mrs Y, and it was entitled to make that decision. It then decided, based on the information it had gathered, not to carry out further enquiries. There is no evidence the Council’s actions were disproportionate or that it acted against the legislation and guidance. It acknowledged how the enquiry would have affected the family at a difficult time. However, the distress they experienced was not due to fault by the Council.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman