Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate the Council’s response to a complaint about carers. This is because we are unlikely to add to the previous investigation by the Council or achieve the outcome wanted.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall refer to as Mr X, remains dissatisfied with the Council’s responses to his complaint about carers. He says the carers were inappropriately dressed which caused him ‘undesirable thoughts’. He says he continues to suffer mentally about this issue. He wants the Council to deal with the situation and acknowledge what happened.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. 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:

• it is unlikely, we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• we achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered the complaint information provided by Mr X. I have read the Council’s response to his complaint. I shared my draft decision with him and read his two responses carefully.

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What I found

Council complaint procedures

4. Councils should have clear procedures for dealing with social care complaints. Regulations and guidance say they should investigate a complaint in a way which will resolve it speedily and efficiently. A single stage procedure should be enough. The Council should say in its response to the complaint:

• how it has considered the complaint; and
• what conclusions it has reached about the complaint, including any matters which may need remedial action; and
• whether the responsible body is satisfied it has taken or will take necessary action; and
• details of the complainant’s right to complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

(Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009)

5. Mr X continues to express dissatisfaction with the actions taken by the Council on his complaint as outlined in paragraph one. The carers complained of were providing care to Mr X’s relative.
6. Turning to the Council’s response, it notes the care provider responded to Mr X’s concerns several times: in May, June and August 2019.
7. The Council notes the care provider’s May 2019 complaint investigation accepted that carers had crossed professional boundaries. It notes the care provider took remedial action to remove the carers complained about from the care of Mr X’s relative.
8. The Council notes the care provider’s June 2019 complaint investigation upheld the earlier actions taken and met with Mr X on a weekly basis (for 5 weeks) to fully listen to his concerns.
9. The care provider’s final (August 2019) complaint investigation found it terminated the care provision due to Mr X’s continuing to raise his concerns with its staff. It said carers clothes as a complaint issue had not been raised before. But it addressed the issue by stating there was no evidence staff did not dress appropriately. It highlighted its Uniform and Workwear Policy which it said was enforced via spot checks.
10. In the main, the Council’s complaint investigation found the care provider had investigated Mr X’s concerns appropriately. It said it could not reach any finding on the issue of carer’s clothing as the information seen did not show this was brought to the attention of the care provider at the time. It said it would ensure its contract monitoring officers would check this issue in future.
11. The Council also found the care provider should have highlighted how Mr X could escalate his complaint. It said the care provider should have written to Mr X to end the care provision. It apologised to Mr X that his relative did not receive care provision up to the standard the Council expects from its commissioned providers. It said its complaints team, contracts monitoring team and the adult social care team worked together to monitor the service received from all its providers.

My analysis

12. My final decision is the Ombudsman will not investigate as it is unlikely, we could add to the Council’s investigation or achieve the outcome wanted in the absence of evidence. The Council has considered the complaint information and reached conclusions in line with the Ombudsman’s standards of complaints handling.
13. I particularly note the care provider removed the carers complained about from the care of Mr X’s relative. And I note the Council’s actions to bring the uniform issue to the attention of its contract monitoring team as part of their usual checks on providers. I do not see what else the Council can reasonably be expected to action in view of the available information on this complaint. Nor can the Ombudsman reach a view on the uniform issue without independent evidence.
14. Mr X has also told us he is unhappy that the care was terminated by the care provider. This is a new complaint matter not previously raised with the Council. This makes it premature under our procedures. Mr X should raise this with the Council before we can consider it.

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Final decision

15. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to be able to add anything more to the Council’s investigation or achieve the outcome sought.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman