Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care. The injustice does not justify an Ombudsman investigation. We cannot decide what caused or contributed to a death, so it is unlikely we would add anything further or achieve a worthwhile outcome.

The complaint

1. Ms C says the Council failed to respond to requests for increased adult social care support for her relative, Mr D. Ms C feels the Council neglected Mr D and that its actions contributed to his death. Ms C says the communication was poor, and the Council promised a meeting within a week which never happened.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused significant enough injustice to the person who complained to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, 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 the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council met Mr D’s adult social care needs by arranging accommodation and care support with a care provider. The care provider asked for an increase in Mr D’s support as his health was declining. The Council says it acted within required timescales to arrange relevant assessments, referrals, and to increase Mr D’s care support. Mr D was admitted to hospital and died. This all happened over two months.
6. Ms C believes delays by the Council in arranging suitable support contributed to Mr D’s decline in health and death. An Ombudsman investigation could not decide this, the coroner can decide what caused or contributed to a death. Ms C alleges neglect; this is a legal matter for a court to decide.
7. Mr D has died and so we can achieve no remedy for him even if we were to find delays by the Council causing him an injustice. Any failures in communication with Ms C does not cause a significant enough injustice to justify an Ombudsman investigation. There is no worthwhile outcome we would achieve.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Ms C’s complaint because the injustice to Ms C does not justify an investigation. It is unlikely we would add anything further or achieve a worthwhile outcome

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman