Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Care Provider. Mr Y’s care is commissioned by the Integrated Care Board. Therefore, issues with his care are not administrative functions of the Care Provider, and we do not have the legal power to investigate them. The complaint must be made to the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Care Provider’s involvement with his father’s (Mr Y’s) care. His concerns included quality of care and operational issues such as shift patterns and supervision. He said the Care Provider had also not responded properly to his complaints. He said the matter had caused significant distress for his father and his father’s wife.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate complaints about actions which are not the administrative function of an organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(1) as amended).
4. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as Integrated Care Boards. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. We have the power to investigate complaints about social care. When care is commissioned by a local authority, our power to investigate is under part 3 of the Local Government Act 1974. The Health Act 2009 inserted a new part 3A into the Act, which also gave us the power to investigate complaints from people who “arrange and fund” their own care about adult social care providers who are carrying out regulated activities (activities which are, or can be, registered by the Care Quality Commission).
8. In this case, Mr Y’s care is commissioned by the Integrated Care Board (ICB). ICBs are NHS organisations responsible for planning health services for their local population.
9. Where an ICB commissions a person’s care, the ICB is responsible for considering complaints about that care. The matters Mr X complains about are not administrative functions of the Care Provider, or of a council within our jurisdiction. They are the responsibility of the ICB.
10. We have no power to consider complaints about NHS functions. The Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman (PHSO) is the relevant Ombudsman for complaints about NHS services. We do not have the power to investigate this complaint, and it is open to Mr X to contact the PHSO.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is about matters that are not administrative functions of the Care Provider. The complaint is instead one that should be raised with the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman