Summary: Ms X complains the Council failed to look after her mother properly while she was living in Meavy View Retirement Home during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have discontinued the investigation into this complaint, as the Council is not accountable for what went on at Meavy View Retirement Home.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms X, complains the Council failed to look after her mother properly while she was living in Meavy View Retirement Home (“Meavy View”) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by Ms X;
• discussed the complaint with Ms X;
• considered the documents the Council has provided; and
• shared a draft of this statement with Ms X and the Council, and invited comments for me to consider before making my final decision.

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What I found

What happened

4. Last year during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms X’s mother, Mrs Y, was living in Meavy View. Many of its staff were off work because of COVID-19. The Council provided its own Care Workers to cover the shifts of the staff who were off work. It did this because otherwise Meavy View would have had to close, and it would have been difficult placing its residents elsewhere during the first wave of the pandemic.
5. Although the Council provided advice to Meavy View on issues such as personal protective equipment (PPE), as it will have done with other care homes, it did not take over running the home. The Council’s Care Workers provided personal care, rather than management services. MTCARE Property Limited, which runs Meavy View, remained accountable for what went on in the home. We are investigating a separate complaint about that. The issues Ms X has raised (failure to protect property, poor care, poor communication, incorrect use of PPE, flawed window visits and failing to move Mrs Y to another room), relate to the general management of the home, rather than the Council’s involvement.
6. Mrs Y left Meavy View to go into hospital. When discharged she moved to another care home.

Are there grounds to continue the investigation into this complaint?

I propose discontinuing the investigation into this complaint, as the Council was not accountable for what went on at Meavy View during the first wave of COVID 19. Even though Council staff were working there, management of Meavy View remained the responsibility of MTCARE Property Limited, so any findings of fault would need to be made against that organisation.

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Final decision

7. I have discontinued the investigation into this complaint, as the Council is not accountable for want went on at Meavy View.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman