Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the support his brother received while in sheltered housing run by the Council. This is because we would be unlikely to find fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the support his brother received while in sheltered housing run by the Council. He says his brother should have been checked on each day but was not.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by Mr X in his complaint, the Council’s responses to him and copies of the Council’s records provided in response to my request.
4. I sent a copy of my draft decision to Mr X. I considered his comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background

5. Mr X’s brother, Mr Y, lived in sheltered housing run by the Council.
6. Mr X’s partner found Mr Y dead at his home in June 2020. Mr X believes Mr Y had died a number of days earlier.
7. Mr X understood the Council was supposed to check on residents each morning. He says the Council should have been checking on his brother and it was this thought that reassured him his brother was okay.
8. The Council investigated Mr X’s concerns. It explained that while residents are encouraged to have daily checks, they can opt out of the service if they wish. It found that Mr Y had opted out of the daily checks in February 2020.
9. A needs assessment completed for Mr Y in February 2020 shows that he opted out of the daily checks and that he understood the risks of opting out.
10. There is no suggestion Mr Y lacked the capacity to make the decision to opt out.
11. The Council provides an alarm system at its sheltered housing. The Council’s records show that Mr Y did not activate any of the alarms at his property in the months before his death.
12. The Council says the only contact it had with Mr Y just before his death was a call to Mr Y on the request of his relatives in mid-June. Mr Y apparently confirmed he was okay but still in bed.

Analysis

13. The evidence shows Mr Y opted out of daily checks from the Council in February 2020. This was a decision he was entitled to make and the Council had a responsibility to respect his wishes.
14. The Council stopped daily checks on Mr Y’s request, so it is unlikely we would find fault with the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

15. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because we would be unlikely to find fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman