Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about her late mother Mrs Y being assaulted in a care home commissioned by the Council, and the Council not allowing Mrs Y to live with her. Investigation by us could not add to the one already conducted nor result in a different outcome. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation. We also cannot achieve the outcomes she seeks.

The complaint

1. Mrs X is the daughter of the late Mrs Y. Mrs Y was hospitalised and on discharge the Council placed her in Waterhall Care Home. Mrs Y was there from spring 2022 until she died in autumn 2023. Mrs X complains:
1. a staff member at the care home assaulted Mrs Y in 2023;
2. the Council did not allow Mrs Y to leave the home and live with her.
2. Mrs X says she is unable to process her mother’s assault and remains in shock. She says she has grief, torment and panic attacks and cannot function at work. Mrs X considers Mrs Y might still be alive if she had been allowed to live with her, and there would be no care invoices for her estate to pay. Mrs X wants justice for Mrs Y, the care home held accountable and the Council to waive the care fees.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome; or
• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating; or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information from Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

5. Mrs X reported an assault on Mrs Y by a member of the care home’s staff soon after Mrs Y told her about it in 2023. The evidence for the assault was given to the police who investigated but decided to take no further action. We cannot investigate the police’s consideration of the matter nor go behind the police’s decision not to pursue the case. The police service is not within our jurisdiction. Investigation by us could not add to nor achieve a different outcome from that investigation, so we will not do so.
6. Mrs X complains the Council did not allow Mrs Y to move from the care home and live with her. The Council says Mrs Y’s family could not agree what accommodation would be best for Mrs Y. To determine if Mrs Y had capacity to decide where she wanted to live herself, officers started a legal process under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Mrs Y remained in the care home while that process was followed but died before it was complete. Officers followed an appropriate process to determine what was in Mrs X’s best interests in respect of her living arrangement. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions here to warrant us investigating.
7. The outcomes Mrs X wants from her complaint include the care home and the staff involved to be held to account, and to have justice for Mrs Y. But Mrs X sought these outcomes through the police at the time, which was the appropriate body to report this criminal matter to. As explained above, we cannot make a finding on this criminal allegation or change the decision reached by the legal authorities to achieve these outcomes. Only the legal authorities could have provided these outcomes. The other outcome Mrs X seeks is for the Council to waive the care fees because of the assault on Mrs Y. Mrs Y received 17 months of provision at the home and the police decided not to pursue the assault issue. Waiving the charges for the provision Mrs Y received is not justified based on an assault report which the police decided not to pursue. That we cannot achieve the outcomes Mrs X seeks from her complaint is a further reason for us not to investigate.

Back to top

Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because:
• investigation of the assault issue could not add to or achieve a different outcome from that reached by the police; and
• there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation; and
• we cannot achieve the outcomes she seeks from the complaint.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman