Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about his father being charged for his care home placement. He says his father should not be charged because he remains under the care of the hospital. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint. In addition, there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about his father being charged for his care home placement. He says his father should not be charged because he remains under the care of the hospital.

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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)
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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X’s father, Mr Z, receives care and support in a care home. Mr Z has lived in the care home since May 2023, following his discharge from hospital.
7. In its complaint response, the Council confirmed:
• The period 5 May to 1 June 2023 was not chargeable.
• Mr Z’s care home placement became chargeable from 2 June 2023 onwards.
• It had waived the charges between 2 June and 3 July 2023 to recognise the fact the Council had failed to notify the family that the charges would apply from 2 June 2023.
• It told Mr Z and his wife about the care home charges in July 2023.
8. Mr Z has been aware of his care charges since July 2023, which is more than 12 months ago. I am satisfied it is reasonable to expect Mr Z to have complained earlier if he was unhappy about being charged for his care home placement when he first became aware of the charges. I cannot see any good reasons for why Mr Z could not have complained to us earlier about the matter. Therefore, I will not exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.
9. In any case, even if we were to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint, I will not investigate because I am not likely to find fault.
10. The Council is allowed to charge for care and support under the Care Act 2004 and appropriately told Mr Z about his care charges in July 2023. Further, there is no evidence to suggest Mr Z is still under the care of the NHS because he was discharged from hospital in May 2023.
11. The Council confirmed no financial assessment has been completed because Mr Z did not complete the financial assessment form. Therefore, Mr X is being charged for the full cost of his care and support. The Council has appropriately told Mr X that if he now provides the financial information, the Council will complete the financial assessment and will backdate the assessment to July 2023. It is open to Mr Z to do this.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint. In addition, there is insufficient evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman