Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the amount of time it took the Council to complete Mrs B’s carers assessment or the communication issues she had with staff about the assessment. This is because we could not achieve anything worthwhile by investigating.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complained about the time taken for the Council to complete her carer’s assessment when she was caring for her husband. Mrs B asked for an assessment in December 2022 which the Council carried out in April 2023. Mrs B also complains that staff she spoke to were unsympathetic and made inappropriate comments to her about the assessment.

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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 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, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. The Council has apologised in its final response for the time taken to carry out the assessment. Whilst Mrs B was waiting for this, she was offered an urgent package of support to help with day-to-day tasks and personal care. The Council say Mrs B was deemed eligible for payment when it completed its assessment and she has since received this. It is unlikely an Ombudsmen investigation would achieve more.
6. The Council also says the communication issues Mrs B experienced with staff have been addressed with the team and it will reinforce in team meetings the values and behaviours it expects. The Council asked one member of staff about the inappropriate comments Mrs B says they made but they did not recall making them. It would be disproportionate to investigate this further.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint. I recognise the distress the events caused Mrs B but there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman