Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the care and support the Council provided to his late father, Mr Y. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons why Mr X did not complain sooner.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to provide his late father, Mr Y, with adequate care. He said his father was confined to his bed due to the care workers not being qualified to support him to transfer from one place to another. Mr X wants the Council to review the outstanding care charges to reflect the poor care Mr X received.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council commissioned a care package for Mr Y to receive care and support in his home. He required support with transferring from one place to another. Mr Y paid towards his care.
6. In July 2021, the Council’s occupational therapist assessed Mr Y’s transfer needs. The assessment concluded Mr Y’s care and support needs had increased. Mr Y required a hoist to allow him to transfer and required two care workers to support him in doing so. The existing care provider could not provide Mr Y with the additional support and so the Council found a new care provider to deliver care and support to Mr Y. Mr X said a month later, Mr Y died. Mr Y had an outstanding bill of approximately £1200.
7. In April 2023, Mr X complained to the Council. He said the Council had forced Mr Y to change care providers and the new care workers were inexperienced and unqualified to properly support Mr Y. He said the care workers did not support Mr Y to move and transfer and so he was confined to his bed. Mr X said this led to his father’s decline in health. Mr X wanted the Council to cancel the final care bill.
8. The Council investigated Mr X’s concerns and in June 2023, it wrote to him and said it would not cancel the remaining care charges as it had not identified any issues with the care it had delivered to Mr Y.
9. We will not investigate this complaint. The matters Mr X complained of happened in 2021. This is more than 12 months ago and so the restriction in paragraph two applies. We expect people to complain to us within 12 months of being aware of the matter giving rise to the complaint. If Mr X was concerned about his father’s care, it was open to him to complain sooner. There is no good reason to exercise discretion to consider this late complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons why he did not complain sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman