Summary: Mr X says the care home is a blight on the local area. We cannot investigate because the complaints are not within the context of receiving personal or practical adult social care.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about various actions relating to the operation of the care home that he says is affecting him and other residents.
2. He complains about – amongst other things – the waste collections occurring too early, staff changeovers being noisy, an untidy frontage, large number of cars partially blocking pavements, residents using obscene language.

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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 injustice, or could have caused injustice, to the person complaining. I have used the term fault to describe this. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B and 34C)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We can investigate complaints about actions by adult social care providers that can be regulated by the Care Quality Commission. Such activities include giving personal care or other practical support in the place where the person lives. This might include complaints about residential accommodation and personal care provided as a condition of treatment for substance misuse, but we cannot investigate complaints about the treatment or therapy itself. Non-regulated activities include day centre services. We cannot investigate complaints about those services if they have been privately arranged.
7. The law defines ‘personal care and other practical support’ as ‘physical assistance (or prompting and assistance) given to a person in connection with:

• eating or drinking (including giving nutrition other than by mouth or alimentary canal);
• toileting (including in relation to menstruation);
• washing or bathing;
• dressing;
• oral care; or
• the care of skin, hair and nails (except for nail care provided by a chiropodist or podiatrist)’.

(Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010)

8. Mr X’s complaints are not within jurisdiction as he is not complaining about services received within the context of personal / practical care.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he is not complaining about services received within the context of adult social care / assistance.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman