The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about his mother’s Council commissioned adult social care not meeting the required Care Quality Commission standards. This is because the Council has apologised to Mr B for his upset, and we could not provide a remedy for any injustice to his mother who has sadly died. It is therefore unlikely investigation would achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr B.
The complaint
Mr B says a week after his mother (Mrs C) died he received a letter advising the care home where she lived had been rated inadequate in several areas by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This has caused upset to Mr B. Mrs C lived in the care home for seven years, and over that time Mr B raised several concerns. Mr B now feels the CQC report has validated his concerns.
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: any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs C lived at Lenthall House care home for seven years. During that time Mr B raised various issues of concern. Those issues were dealt with by the Care Provider and the Council and Mr B did not escalate those concerns to the Ombudsman at the time. Those concerns are late complaints in accordance with paragraph three, and I can see no reason Mr B could not have raised those complaints with us sooner.
Mr B has recently learnt the Care Quality Commissioned rated Lenthall House inadequate following an inspection carried out in December 2021, at the time Mrs C was resident. This has left Mr B feeling upset that his mother did not receive an adequate level of care.
The Care Provider has met with Mr B; both the Care Provider and Council have apologised to Mr B for his upset caused by failures in service.
The Care Provider has improved its service for existing and future residents, and now has a good rating by the Care Quality Commission.
I understand and appreciate it was upsetting for Mr B to receive information that the care home his mother lived was providing an inadequate service, especially receiving this information shortly after her death. However, the specific examples Mr B gives of poor care are historic and are late complaints. The Council has apologised to Mr B and it is unlikely investigation would achieve anything more for him.
The primary impact of any substandard care would have affected Mrs C, but we cannot provide any remedy to her now that she has died. The Care Provider has made improvements. If any current or future residents have concerns over the care they receive they may raise their own complaints.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it is unlikely further investigation would achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr B. His complaints about the care provided to Mrs C are late and we cannot remedy any injustice she may have suffered during her lifetime.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman