The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the care provided by a Care Home. There is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
The complaint
Mrs X complained about the standard of residential care provided to her mother, Mrs Y between 2020 and 2023. She said the standards of care were not good enough, with the Care Home incorrectly giving Mrs Y a diabetic diet. She said the Care Home lost Mrs Y’s personal items such as hearing aids, did not provide an ariel so she could watch television in her room. She said it unfairly discharged Mrs Y from the Care Home.
Mrs X also said the Care Home’s communication with her was poor. She said it did not provide a copy of its complaint procedure when asked, did not keep her updated about Mrs Y and failed to respond to a subject access request. Mrs X wants an apology, partial financial reimbursement of Mrs Y’s care fees and compensation for lost items.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X’s complaints are about the care provided to Mrs Y from 2020 until July 2023. We expect a complainant to complain to us within twelve months of being aware of the matter. In Mrs X’s contact with the Care Home, she said she did not become aware of the issues until 2022. However, Mrs X did not complain to us until April 2024. Therefore, most of her complaints are late and we should not investigate. We have discretion to set aside this restriction where we decide there are good reasons. In this case I have decided not to exercise discretion. It was reasonable for Mrs X to complain sooner if she was unhappy about the care Mrs Y received.
In any event, even if the complaints were not late, we would not investigate. That is because: Mrs Y is no-longer resident at the Care Home. Therefore, we can’t ask the Care Home to address any concerns about Mrs Y’s care, as there is no ongoing injustice to Mrs Y. Consequently, there is nothing worthwhile to be achieved through investigation.
Additionally, we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by an organisation. Any claimed injustice is unlikely to be significant enough to justify our involvement.
Although Mrs X would like a partial financial reimbursement of Mrs Y’s care fees, Mrs Y has received care. And any injustice experienced is not significant enough to warrant a reimbursement of care fees, therefore this is not an outcome we would achieve.
The Care Home said it could no-longer Meet Mrs Y’s needs and she was moved into nursing care. It is unlikely we would find fault in how the Care Home made that decision.
We also do not provide a financial remedy for lost items. It is reasonable for Mrs X to make a claim through her own, or the Care Home’s insurance for any lost personal items.
Any complaints Mrs X has about how the Care Home dealt with her Subject Access Request are best made to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO deals with complaint around data protection and personal information.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable through investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman