Summary: Mr X complains the Council failed to ensure his friend’s care needs were met, resulting in his premature death. We cannot remedy the injustice to Mr X’s friend as he has died. Nor can we deliver the outcomes Mr X is looking for. There is therefore nothing we can achieve by investigating this complaint further.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complains the Council failed to ensure his friend’s care needs were met, resulting in his premature death.

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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)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by Mr X;
• discussed the complaint with Mr X;
• considered the comments the Council has provided in response to our enquiries; and
• shared a draft of this statement with Mr 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

5. Mr X’s friend, Mr Y, was a neighbour. He received care from a Care Agency arranged by the Council.
6. Mr X had concerns about two carers who visited Mr Y. He says they:
• did not give Mr Y his medication, including medication for dementia;
• did not shower him for months;
• left him in soiled clothing;
• gave him the same food to eat every day.
7. A District Nurse raised safeguarding concerns in April and May 2018. The Council made enquiries into the concerns. They related to: prompting medication; personal hygiene; pressure care; and diet. Mr X also reported his concerns to the Council.
8. The Council found:
• Mr Y unwashed and in dirty clothes;
• the carers were visiting far too early in the morning;
• Mr Y was not eating properly.
9. Because of the safeguarding enquiries the Council updated Mr Y’s care plan in June:
• increasing the carer’s visits from 30 to 60 minutes;
• changing the time of the morning visits;
• arranging day care twice a week; and
• arranging greater variety of food.
10. Mr X says this was not good enough, as the same carers kept visiting Mr Y. He says they covered up the fact they still did not care for him properly. He says they did not visit for an hour each time.

Are there grounds to investigate this complaint further?

11. There is no dispute over the fact there was fault by the Council’s Care Provider over the care it provided for Mr Y. This did not cause injustice to Mr X but to Mr Y. It is no longer possible to remedy the injustice to Mr Y because he has died.
12. Mr X’s main concern is that the two carers who visited Mr Y were not removed and continue to visit other people. The Ombudsman does not get involved in disciplinary matters. We hold the bodies we investigate to account for any faults we identify and leave disciplinary matters to the bodies themselves. It is not within my power to get the carers sacked and barred from working as carers again.
13. There is no realistic prospect of my being able to say the poor care Mr Y received resulted in his premature death.
14. For the reasons explained above, there is nothing I can achieve by investigating this complaint further.

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Final decision

15. I have discontinued the investigation as there is nothing we can achieve by investigating it further.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman