Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to provide him with care and support when he requested it. This is because further investigation is unlikely to provide Mr B with a different outcome to that he has received from the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr B complained the Council failed to help him when he requested help, did not deal with his complaint properly or within the Council’s own timescales, staff were unprofessional when they spoke to him and ignored his emails. Mr B says the Council are not happy to contact him. Mr B says he lives alone, has mobility problems, and needs help putting out his bin, cleaning and taking his medication on time. Mr B wants the Council to provide these services and pay him compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr B contacted the Council on 15 August to say he needed help and support. The Council completed an initial screening and contacted him the same day. The Council says it ascertained Mr B was concerned about his pain management and wounds following an operation and physiotherapy. The Council contacted the NHS Community Health Team. The Council says it contacted Mr B the following day but did not establish Mr B needed social care or support. It noted Mr B expressed pain and had difficulty accessing the bath. It requested his GP consider referring him to a pain clinic and an Occupational Therapist (OT) for support in order he could access his bath. The Council says Mr B continued to contact it requesting support, but his primary needs had been established as being health needs which could be accessed via the NHS. The Council says it checked and confirmed the case was open the District Nurse and the Enhanced Primary Care Team.
6. The Council were satisfied at the time Mr B had no care needs requiring social care. Mr B says he cannot empty his bins, clean his property, or remember to take his medication on time. These are new matters which have not been considered by the Council as they were not considerations when Mr B initially contacted the Council. Mr B will need to contact the Council and ask it to undertake a Care Needs Assessment based on the information he has now provided to the Ombudsman. If he remains dissatisfied when the Council has considered his concerns he can come back to us for further consideration.
7. Mr B says the Council refuses to engage with him, delayed in responding to his complaint and, he says, staff were unprofessional when they spoke to him. The Council says staff experienced verbal abuse from Mr B but were satisfied at the time he had no unmet needs that may have required adult social care. We could not make a finding on this point when we were not present and both parties refer to abusive behaviour from each other. We would not normally investigate the way a council has handled a complaint if we are not investigating the reason why a person needed to contact the Council in the first instance. That is the case here.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because further investigation could not provide Mr B with a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman