London Borough of Hillingdon (20 004 097)
Category : Adult care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Oct 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that her new social worker is in a team led by a manager she does not feel able to work with. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council which warrants an investigation.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, complained that the new social worker she had been allocated was from a team led by a manger she does not feel able to work with due to a lack of trust on her part.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. 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 it is unlikely we would find evidence of fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Ms X and the Council.
What I found
- Ms X asked for a change in social worker. The Council initially declined her request. However, it then decided to allocate her a new social worker.
- Ms X then asked the Council to allow her to change teams as the new social worker was from a team managed by someone she did not feel able to work with.
- This manager then moved to another team and so no longer oversees the team which the new social worker allocated to Ms X works under.
Assessment
- The Council agreed to Ms X’s request for a new social worker. While Ms X was unhappy the new social worker was initially in a team led by a manger she did not want to work with, this manager has themselves now moved teams.
- As there is no evidence of fault by the Council which warrants an investigation by the Ombudsman we will not pursue the matter further.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council which warrants an investigation.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman