Summary: Miss X complained about her father being in a nursing home, and the care he receives there. She also complained about the Council having taken steps towards selling the family home. We cannot investigate this complaint. We already considered part of the complaint in 2015 and we cannot investigate that again. Other issues are being considered in court and are not for the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about her father having been in a nursing home for five years, as she has concerns about the quality of his care and believes some of his needs are not being met.
2. Miss X also complained about the Council’s actions in relation to the family home. It took action in the court of protection to get permission to sell the home to pay for Miss X’s parents’ care.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the council knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the council of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered the information Miss X provided when she complained to us. I discussed the complaint with Miss X over the telephone.
7. I considered information the Council provided.
8. I considered Miss X’s comments on a draft version of this decision.

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What I found

9. Miss X’s father, Mr Y, has lived in a Council-funded nursing home for five years.
10. The Council excluded Miss X from the family home in 2014 and changed the locks. Miss X complained to us and we issued a decision in 2015. The Council had the power to protect the family home by changing the locks. We cannot reinvestigate that issue.
11. The Council began proceedings in the court of protection so it could sell the family home to pay for care. We cannot consider the start of court action or what happens in court. We cannot overturn a decision of the court, and we cannot investigate this part of Miss X’s complaint.
12. Miss X does not want Mr Y to remain in the care home, and raises several concerns about his care. She says Mr Y tells her he hates the care home. Mr Y is subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) authorisation. This means Mr Y cannot make his own decision due to a mental impairment, and it has been decided it is in Mr Y’s best interests to live in the care home, despite restrictions that may be in place or his disagreement. Miss X has challenged the authorisation in the court of protection on Mr Y’s behalf, and the court has decided Mr Y should stay in the care home. We cannot investigate this decision.
13. Miss X has raised concerns with the Council about the quality of Mr Y’s care at the nursing home and needs she feels are not being met. The Council has discussed those concerns with Miss X. It carried out a care review in 2018, but since then it has not had the opportunity to consider Miss X’s continuing concerns through its internal complaints procedure. Some of these issues are likely to be separable from the issue of the DOLS and the Council is best placed to investigate the outstanding issues. Therefore, we would expect Miss X to use the Council’s internal complaints procedures for these issues before complaining to us again, if necessary.

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Final decision

14. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we have already investigated part of it, and other parts relate to decisions that have been made by the courts. However, the Council should now consider Miss X’s complaints about quality of care and unmet needs. When the Council’s complaint procedures have been completed, we may be able to investigate those issues.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman