Summary: We will not investigate Mr X complaint about the Council’s handling of his late father’s residential care charges. The Council has accepted it was at fault for not completing financial assessments sooner. It has apologised and offered a significant reduction in the outstanding invoice for care charges. Further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s failure to complete timely needs and financial assessments for his father, Mr Y, after he moved into residential care in 2022. He says the Council did not complete any financial assessments until March 2024. He also complains the Council failed to request a Continuing Healthcare (CHC) funding assessment from the NHS when Mr Y’s health declined. Mr X wants the Council to reduce the final bill for his late father’s care based on his estimate of the interest lost and costs incurred.

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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
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. We may investigate a complaint on behalf of someone who has died or who cannot authorise someone to act for them. The complaint may be made by:

• their personal representative (if they have one), or
• someone we consider to be suitable. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(2), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council has sent Mr X two detailed complaints responses to his concerns. These have included the instances when the Council made unsuccessful attempts to contact Mr X, as his father’s named contact, to arrange appointments to complete a financial assessment to determine Mr Y’s contribution to his residential care costs. The Council also explained it had not been notified of any changes in Mr Y’s health, such as his hospital admission in 2023, to prompt it to request a CHC funding assessment from the NHS. The Council also noted the care home where Mr Y lived had not requested additional funding to meet his needs nor had it advised the Council Mr Y needed a nursing care home placement.
7. The Council accepted it should have completed its financial assessment for Mr Y sooner. It subsequently offered Mr X a reduction of £15,435 to the outstanding care charges in recognition of its failure to complete a review of Mr Y’s care as promised. This reduces the overall invoice for charges to
8. The Council’s offer to remedy the injustice caused by its delayed assessment of Mr Y is significantly higher than the remedy payments we might typically recommend in these circumstances. While Mr X may disagree and believe a higher reduction should be offered, it would not be an appropriate use of our limited resources to investigate a matter where we consider the remedy offered is proportionate and reasonable.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because further investigation would not add to the Council’s response or lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman