Essex County Council (21 007 868)
Category : Adult care services > Domiciliary care
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 Sep 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council changing her domiciliary care agency. We are unlikely to find evidence indicating fault
The complaint
- The complainant who I shall refer to as Mrs X complains that the Council failed to provide a reason for a change in her care provider.
- Mrs X says she had a good relationship with previous agency, and it has taken her time to get to know the new care workers. She would like to know why the previous care agency does not want to provide a domiciliary care service to her anymore.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:
- there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council has explained to Mrs X that the care agency said it was no longer able to adequately manage her needs. The Council arranged for another agency to take over. There was no gap in Mrs X’s care provision. The Council also checked that Mrs X was happy with the new agency’s provision.
- Mrs X accepts the Council has provided an explanation and but wants an answer from the previous agency.
- The Council has informed Mrs X that she can contact the previous agency directly if she is not satisfied with the reason provided.
Final decision
- My final decision is that is we should not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we will find evidence indicating fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman