Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Care Provider’s investigation into an incident between service users, or its decision to exclude Miss Y from its services. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to accept it now.

The complaint

1. Ms X says the Care Provider did not investigate properly when another service user assaulted her daughter, Miss Y, while she was under its care. Ms X says the incident traumatised Miss Y.
2. Ms X disagrees with the Care Provider’s decision to exclude Miss Y from its services following the investigation and says it has penalised Miss Y even though she was the victim of the assault.

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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 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 care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Care Provider.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code and Guidance on Jurisdiction.

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My assessment

7. The reported incident took place in July 2019. Ms X complained to the Care Provider on her daughter’s behalf. The Care Provider investigated the incident and decided to remove Miss Y from its services. The final contact Ms X had with the Care Provider was in September 2019. Ms X did not complain to the Ombudsman until September 2021. Therefore, this is a late complaint. We have discretion to set aside this restriction where we decide there are good reasons. In this case we have decided not to exercise discretion. It was reasonable to expect Ms X to complain to us sooner. The Care Provider made Ms X aware of our services in August 2019. Ms X has not provided good reasons why she did not complain to us within 12 months of knowing about the issue.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is a late complaint and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to accept it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman