The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s assessment of her mother. The Council has already apologised for not involving Mrs X in her mother’s review and has offered a reassessment. There is nothing more we could achieve by investigating the matter further.
The complaint
Mrs X complains the Council failed to involve her in its review of her mother’s care and support needs. Mrs X believes her mother needs to be in residential care. Mrs X wants the Council to complete a reassessment and for it to involve her in this.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has apologised to Mrs X for not involving her in her mother’s recent care and support review. It has also accepted it should have sought clarification from Mrs X about her mother’s needs after the review. The Council has confirmed it had provided feedback to the Social Worker involved to improve practice.
The Council has also agreed to reassess Mrs X’s mother as it appears her needs have changed. We will not investigate because the Council has already offered the outcome Mrs X was seeking by complaining to us.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is nothing more we could achieve by investigating the matter further.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman