Summary: We will not investigate this complaint the Council failed to follow the correct Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards process. Mrs X is not considered a suitable representative to complain on behalf of her brother and there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council has communicated with her to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to get the correct authorisation after it restricted her brother’s liberty by placing him in a residential home with 24-hour supervision.
2. She said the Council did not involve the family in the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) assessment. She said the care home was not allowing the family to visit Mr Y. Mrs X said the Council would not communicate with her about Mr Y’s care of her complaint.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We may investigate a complaint on behalf of someone who has died or who cannot authorise someone to act for them. The complaint may be made by:

• their personal representative (if they have one), or
• someone we consider to be suitable.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(2), as amended)

4. 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))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

7. The Council wrote to Mrs X in September 2021. It said it had previously informed her that Mr Y did not want it communicating with her about his care or sharing his personal information with her. Therefore, I do not consider Mrs X suitable to act as a representative about his supervision or any restrictions in place at his current care placement. Mr Y has a nominated next of kin who is involved in decisions about his care and can make complaints on his behalf.
8. Mrs X also complained the Council did not include her, or the wider family in its DoLS assessment. As Mr Y does not want the Council to involve Mrs X in any decision making about him, we would not expect it to contact her about the DoLS assessment, as that would be going against his wishes. If the wider family are dissatisfied, they would need to make a complaint to the Council in their own right. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint further as there is insufficient evidence of any fault.
9. The Council wrote to Mrs X in December 2021, stating it would not respond to any further complaints in respect of Mr Y. The Council’s letter set out the reasons for that decision and confirmed it would review the decision in six months. We will not investigate this complaint further as there is insufficient evidence of fault in how it was made.

Back to top

Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she is not a suitable representative to complain on behalf of her brother and there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions towards her.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman