Oxfordshire County Council (18 016 301)
Category : Adult care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 22 Mar 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr A’s complaint about the actions of his wife’s treatment provider. This is because it is not within the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman to investigate.
The complaint
- Mr A says his wife’s treatment provider illegally stopped him from entering a review meeting about her treatment and intimidated him. Mr A says he has Power of Attorney and should be allowed to attend the meetings about his wife’s treatment.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as treatment provider’s. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information and documentation Mr A and the Council provided. I sent Mr A a copy of my draft decision for comment.
What I found
- Mr A complained about the way he was treated by his wife’s treatment provider.
- The Council globally commissions and funds treatment provider’s as part of its public health responsibilities, however, Mr A’s wife’s treatment was not commissioned as an individual package of care following an assessment of her needs under the Council’s statutory responsibly to do so.
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate the actions of treatment provider’s or decision taken by health care professionals.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because it is not within the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman to investigate
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman