Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Care Provider’s alleged failure to adequately cate for his late mother Ms Y. This is because we would be unlikely to provide a worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Care Provider failed to keep accurate records, acted unprofessionally and unfairly ended his late mother Ms Y’s care package.
2. He said he and his family have been caused distress and upset by the Care Provider’s actions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

4. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Care Provider.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X complained to the Care Provider about various issues with its treatment of his late mother Ms Y. He said carers had failed to complete medication charts, lost records containing important details and generally behaved unprofessionally. He was also unhappy the Care Provider chose to end the package of care, shortly before Ms Y’s death several years ago.
8. The Care Provider investigated and told Mr X it could not answer some of his complaint points as it did not have access to the records. It addressed Mr X’s other complaint points and explained its decision to terminate the care package.
9. Mr X remains unhappy with the Care Provider’s response to his complaint. The Care Provider has investigated and provided adequate responses to Mr X’s complaints. Due to the time that has passed since the events complained about took place, it is unlikely that further investigation will lead to anything worthwhile for Mr X. In addition, we are unable to instruct Care Providers to discipline specific staff members. It is open to Mr X to refer his complaint regarding the Care Provider’s handling of Ms Y’s data with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we would be unlikely to provide a worthwhile outcome for him.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman