Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs B’s late complaint about the Council’s actions regarding her late mother, Mrs C. This is because Mrs C is sadly deceased so any injustice caused to her from the actions of the Council cannot be remedied. There is no good reason for the Ombudsman to exercise his discretion and investigate this late complaint now.

The complaint

1. Mrs B says her late mother, Mrs C, and her family were very distressed in 2016 when the Council refused to allow her to leave her intermediate hospital bed. Mrs B says the Council convened a best interests meeting but did not implement a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) to keep Mrs C there against her wishes and those of Mrs B’s who the Council knew was her Power of Attorney. Mrs B says they had a solicitor present at the meeting who advised the Council they could not keep Mrs C in the bed against her will so she was allowed to go home. Mrs B wants a full investigation into what happened.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information and documentation Mrs B provided. I sent Mrs B a copy of my draft decision and considered her comments on it.

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What I found

4. Mrs B complains about matters which happened in 2016 and she knew about at the time.
5. Mrs B says she was unwell for several years and had to deal with the loss and bereavement of Mrs C in 2017 so could not come to the Ombudsman sooner. The law says complaints to the Ombudsman must be made within 12 months of the date a person knew of the matters. This is because it can be difficult to establish with any certainty what may or may not have gone wrong when a lot of time has passed before a complaint is made.
6. Mrs C is sadly deceased so any fault an investigation by the Ombudsman might uncover cannot be remedied. There are no good reasons to exercise discretion in this case.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and there is no good reason for the Ombudsman to exercise his discretion and investigate this late complaint now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman