Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an incident between Ms X and a carer. Further investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the actions of a carer from the Care Provider. She says the Care Provider also did not handle her complaint properly. She says the matter has caused her significant distress. She wants the Care Provider to make service improvements.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Ms X complained to the Care Provider about an incident between her and one of her carers. The Care Provider considered the event as described by both Ms X and the carer and it was agreed the carer could no longer attend visits to Ms X.
6. The Care Provider has explained it has a small staff team, and it was unable after this event to provide the care package Ms X required. It issued her two weeks’ notice and says she was able to arrange a new care provider before this period of notice finished.
7. We could not say what happened on the day of the incident because we were not present, and the only available evidence is the differing descriptions from both parties. I have considered the Care Provider’s reasoning for giving notice to Ms X and there is insufficient evidence of fault in how it reached this decision. We would not be able to come to a different conclusion by investigating the matter further, and so we could not achieve a meaningful outcome for Ms X.
8. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue. We will not, therefore, investigate how the Care Provider dealt with Ms X’s complaint in isolation.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because further investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman