Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council providing poor care to her late mother, Mrs Y. This is because it is late and there are no good reasons why she did not complain to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council’s commissioned Care Provider provided poor care to her late mother, Mrs Y and is pursuing her for outstanding care charges. Miss X said the matter caused her distress. She wants the Council to cancel or reduce the outstanding care charges.

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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 Miss X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council provided Mrs Y with a package of domiciliary care.
6. In January 2024, Miss X complained to the Council about the care workers who attended to her mother. She said care workers failed to provide an appropriate standard of care, they did not always follow the support plan, failed to attend some care calls, did not consistently support Mrs Y with food, personal care and that communication was poor. She also raised concerns about staff identification, English language skills, rota information and staffing capacity.
7. The Council carried out a safeguarding investigation into some of the matters Miss X complained of. It concluded its safeguarding investigation in March 2024 and responded to Miss X’s complaint in May 2024. The Council had upheld the majority of Miss X’s complaint.
8. Mrs Y died. The Council informed Miss X there were outstanding care charges of approximately £950.00. Due to the poor care the Council provided to her mother, Miss X does not consider it is fair to pay the outstanding charges.
9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because the complaint is late and so paragraph two of this statement applies. Miss X had received the Council’s response in early 2024. We would expect Miss X to bring her complaint to us within 12 months of the final response. There are no good reasons why she did not complain to us sooner.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman