Summary: We have stopped investigating Mr A’s complaint because it is about an advocacy service which is funded to provide services on behalf of the NHS. We have no power to consider complaints about services provided on behalf of the NHS.

The complaint

1. Mr A complains London Borough of Hackney refused to investigate his complaint about an advocacy service he wanted to help him complain about NHS services and referred him to another London borough (Borough X).

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)
4. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies which provide services for or on behalf of the NHS. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)
5. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I discussed the complaint with Mr A on the phone and considered correspondence and emails from Borough X and from the Council’s complaints and commissioning teams. The parties received a draft of this statement and had an opportunity to comment.

Back to top

What I found

7. Mr A approached an advocacy service for support to make a complaint about NHS services including a Clinical Commissioning Group. He told me the advocate and her line manager did not return his calls and the advocacy service did not reply to his complaint about its poor service.
8. The advocacy service provides information, advice and support and advocacy services for people with disabilities. The advocacy service has contracts with the NHS to provide complaints advocacy to help people who want to complain about the NHS. It also has contracts with local authorities to provide advocacy under the Care Act, Mental Capacity Act and Mental Health Act.
9. Mr A complained to the Council about the advocacy service’s failure to respond to his complaint or to provide him with a service. The Council said that Borough X was responsible for responding to his complaint. Borough X said the Council was responsible. Neither council could decide who was responsible. The Council referred Mr A to the Ombudsman.

Back to top

Final decision

10. I have stopped investigating Mr A’s complaint because:
1. The underlying complaint is about a failure to provide him with advocacy to make an NHS complaint. The advocacy service receives funding from councils to provide statutory advocacy, but Mr A wanted advocacy to help him complain about the NHS and that part of the advocacy service is an NHS function and not a council function. Mr A told me he had already approached the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. That is the correct body to deal with his complaints about NHS advocacy and treatment, including a failure to provide advocacy to use the NHS complaints procedure. We (the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman) do not have power to investigate complaints about NHS functions.
2. Mr A also has a procedural complaint about who would be responsible for investigating complaints about social care advocacy. While is frustrating for him not to get an answer to that question, he has not suffered a significant injustice.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman