Summary: We will not investigate Ms C’s complaint about lack of care and support from the Council. This is because it is unlikely we would find enough evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council to warrant an ombudsman investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms C says following a hip replacement and discharge from hospital in 2019 the Council said she could not go back to her house until it had been cleaned. Ms C says she agreed to a deep clean and found on her return home items were missing. In 2020 it was decided the house was not suitable for her needs and Ms C moved to several different care facilities. Ms C says the Council says it has no record of undertaking the deep clean and has not done anything about her missing items. Ms C complained the Council withdrew funding in 2021 and she has lost her life savings. Ms C says building works undertaken on her house, are not of an appropriate standard and she cannot go back to living in her home full time. Ms C says the Care Provider has given her notice to quit notice saying she does not require 24-hour care and the Council has not supported her to find suitable accommodation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Ms C’s complaint about poor quality of the deep clean in her property in 2019 and missing items is late. We could not say what happened to the missing items or make a finding on the standard of the cleanliness of her property in 2019 and will not investigate this late complaint.
7. The Council says Ms C was given notice to leave the care home because she is fully independent in the home, refuses support and has been verbally abusive to staff. In addition, there has been a delay in her paying her bills and she owes approximately £11,000 in care fees.
8. The Council says although Ms C is unhappy with the standard of the building works undertaken on her property it has been checked and deemed habitable. Ms C asked for support in finding a guest house, but the Council explained this would not be suitable for Ms C’s needs and advised her against this option. The Council says Ms C has been offered a package of care in her own home, but she has refused this offer. The Council says Ms C’s Social Worker has been fully engaged with her, has offered advice, an assessment to support her when she returns home, provided her with a list of guesthouses despite advising her against this option, and was not involved in Ms C’s decision to remain in the care home which was arranged privately. The Council recommended:

• Ms C to engage with her Social Worker to ensure the planned meeting is progressed with her builder to enable her to move back home.
• Ms C to engage with her Social Worker about having a further assessment of her care and support needs undertaken and have a package of care in place once she has returned home.
• If Ms C does not want to engage with a care and support package her case will be closed and, she can rerefer in the future if she decides she wants to accept a package of care and support.

9. The Council has explained what it has done to support Ms C and we could not add to this.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms C’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault with the Council’s actions to warrant an ombudsman investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman