2. Miss Y complains that between December 2020 and April 2021 the care home:
• left Mr Y on the floor unconscious • did not give Mr Y the correct nutrition • did not test Mr Y’s urine sample • lost Mr Y’s glasses • did not give Mr Y footwear.
3. Miss Y says in the care home Mr Y’s health got worse and she felt distress.
4. Miss Y says the care home is not fit for care and it should be closed.
5. The care home admitted Mr Y in December 2020. Due to COVID-19 restrictions Miss Y could not visit at first.
6. On 1 April 2021 Miss Y took Mr Y’s urine sample kit to the care home. Mr Y had cancer before and had been sending urine samples to a laboratory every six months to check it had not come back.
7. Miss Y says she phoned the care home on 11 April to check the sample had been sent and a nurse told her it was sent on 7 April. Miss Y says she honed the laboratory who said they did not get the sample. The care home later said it does not accept sample kits from a family member and it only accepts them from a GP or hospital. Miss Y says she understands she has no evidence of what the nurse said on the phone. She says it was worrying to think that bladder cancer could have been missed test being done.
8. On 16 April 2021 Miss Y got a phone call from the care home. Miss Y says the nurse said they found Mr Y unconscious that morning and they asked her if they should call an ambulance. Miss Y says she was worried as this was the obvious thing to do in an emergency. She says the paramedics who arrived were concerned as Mr Y was left on the floor. When Mr Y got to the hospital, he was dehydrated and malnourished (when your diet does not give you the nutrients you need).
9. Miss Y says a lot of things worried her about the care home. She says there were problems with Mr Y having physiotherapy after his hip surgery because he had no footwear. Miss Y says Mr Y did not have glasses for four months which may have given him headaches.
10. Miss Y complained to the care home in April 2021 and it responded at the end of the month. Miss Y complained to us on 14 July 2021.
12. Before we decide if we should do a detailed investigation of a complaint, we look at whether there is an organisation that is better placed to deal with the concerns. We have considered whether another organisation is better suited to giving an answer to the complaint and whether it can give the outcome Miss Y wants.
13. We asked Miss Y what she wants by making her complaint to us. Miss Y said the care home should be closed.
14. We said we cannot decide if the care home should be running or not. We explained the recommendations we would usually consider are an apology, service improvements and/or financial compensation. Miss Y wants financial compensation and we gave her information about this. We spoke to Miss Y again and she said money was not the main reason for making the complaint.
15. We are sorry Mr Y died after she made her complaint. We understand she did not want money and this would not make things better for her. Miss Y said the care home was not giving the right care and that staff were still working there.
16. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an independent regulator of health and social care in England. The CQC make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, quality care. We think this organisation is better placed to investigate this complaint. If the CQC find that the care has been below the expected standard, it has powers to take action.
17. Miss Y says she contacted the CQC before but she could not remember what happened and she did not have any written information about it. We can see the CQC did inspect the care home in December 2022 and said it needed improvement and it made recommendations. We advise Miss Y to contact the CQC to follow up her concerns with it.
18. We are sorry to hear of the distress Miss Y and her family experienced. As there is another organisation who can investigate Miss Y complaint, we will not take further action.
1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has carefully considered Miss Y’s complaint about a care home in the Redcar and Cleveland area (the care home). We understand the distress Miss Y experienced when her father, Mr Y, was in the care home. We are not investigating the complaint because there is another organisation who can investigate Miss Y’s complaint.