Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council did not consider his concerns about his Local Healthwatch. It is not good use of public money to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, where we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about Healthwatch providing incorrect information at an event it organised. Mr X said Healthwatch also published the information on its website and in a newsletter. Mr X is unhappy the Council decided not to investigate his complaint. He said Healthwatch’s response about the matter was insufficient.
2. Mr X wants the information to be corrected.

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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 complaints about actions which are not the administrative function of a Council. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(1) as amended).
5. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Local Healthwatch supports public involvement in health and social care decision-making.
9. While councils oversee local Healthwatch operations, their day-to-day activities and decision-making are independent and not considered administrative functions of the council.
10. Mr X attended an event organised by Healthwatch. At this event, Mr X said Healthwatch provided and later published incorrect information.
11. Mr X complained directly to Healthwatch requesting it to correct and clarify the matter on its website and through its newsletter.
12. Unhappy with Healthwatch’s responses, Mr X escalated the matter to his Council. The Council chose not to investigate the complaint, stating it was satisfied with Healthwatch's response.
13. The Ombudsman cannot investigate Healthwatch’s day-to-day activities. Therefore, we cannot consider Mr X’s complaint Healthwatch publicised incorrect information. We will not investigate Mr X’s concern the Council has not investigated his complaint. That is because it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
14. While Mr X may feel strongly about this matter, his alleged injustice is not a sufficiently serious loss, harm or distress which would justify our investigation.

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Final decision

15. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council decided not to investigate his complaint when he discovered Healthwatch published incorrect information. Day-to-day activities at Healthwatch are not administrative functions of the Council and we cannot investigate these. It is not good use of public money to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman