Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaints about the actions of a Care Provider. This is because the actions complained of are not matters the Ombudsman can investigate as they do not relate to the provision of adult social care.

The complaint

1. In summary, Mr X complains the Care Provider failed to care for him properly while he underwent treatment in a drug/alcohol rehabilitation centre. Mr X says:
• he was not assessed properly on arrival to check his fitness to sign the treatment contract.
• he did not receive adequate care when he had a seizure as staff did not check up on his sufficiently.
• when he suffered a fall and was taken to hospital, he was abandoned by the Care Provider’s staff and had to make his own way back to the centre.
• his records were obtained from the hospital without his permission and discussed in front of everyone.
2. Mr X says he is seeking redress for the distress caused, in the form of a refund of the fees paid plus an extra amount for his time and trouble.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about adult social care providers and decide whether their actions have caused an injustice, or could have caused injustice, to the person making the complaint. I have used the term fault to describe such actions. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B and 34C)
4. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 set out the fundamental standards those registered to provide care services must achieve. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued guidance on how to meet the fundamental standards below which care must never fall.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and information about the Care Provider on its website and the CQC’s website.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Care Provider is an adult social care provider for the purposes of our consideration of complaints. This is because the range of activities it provides involves or is connected with the provision of adult social care under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
8. However, Mr X did not receive any services which can be defined as adult social care services under those Regulations. Adult social care is defined as personal care or other practical assistance. Personal care is defined as “physical assistance in connection with”:
• eating or drinking (including the maintenance of established parenteral nutrition),
• toileting (including in relation to the process of menstruation),
• washing or bathing,
• dressing,
• oral care, or
• the care of skin, hair and nails (with the exception of nail care provided by a person registered with the Health and Care Professions Council as a chiropodist or podiatrist pursuant to article 5 of the 2001 Order), or
9. Other “practical assistance” is not defined in legislation but we generally interpret this to be assistance connected to some form physical assistance.
10. The services Mr X received were therapeutic services in relation to drug/alcohol addiction. These are not adult care services as defined in the legislation.
11. Therefore, we cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint it does not relate to the provision of adult social care.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the actions complained of are not matters the Ombudsman can investigate.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman