Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s late complaint about the care provided to her father, Mr C. This is because we are satisfied with the actions taken by the Council. There is no good reason to exercise discretion in this case.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complained about the care her father, Mr C received in his own home from his Care Provider between 2017 and 2020. Mrs B says because she complained about a safeguarding concern the Care Provider gave Mr C notice to quit. Subsequently the Care Provider went into liquidation although Mrs B says it is still trading as a care home. Mrs B says concerns were raised with the Council over the three years about poor care, late calls and failures to let Mr C know carers would be late, some of which were safeguarding matters. Mr B says the Care Provider failed to respond to her complaints in 2020 and complained to the Council in August 2021.

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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)

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council investigated Mrs B’s complaints under its responsibility for safeguarding vulnerable adults and advised Mrs B on three issues, actions had been addressed with the Care Provider at the time. The Council confirmed its Contracts and Commissioning Team had systems in place to monitor performance where concerns had been identified.
6. The Council acknowledged the family had lost confidence in the Care Provider due to the number of concerns raised and a delay in finding another provider did not help the situation. It apologised for the distressed caused. The Council confirmed it is undertaking a review of how services are being quality assured, with particular reference to the number of complaints and safeguarding concerns made against a provider and expect this to be concluded by the end of December this year.
7. There is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate this late complaint now. Although Mr C’s Care Provider is no longer providing home care, we are satisfied the Council has considered Mrs B’s complaints, apologised for the failings, and has implemented a review of its commissioned services.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs B’s late complaint because we are satisfied with the actions taken by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman