Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about care provided to the late Mr C. This is because he could not provide a remedy to Mr C for any injustice caused to him by the Council’s failings, as he is now deceased.

The complaint

1. Ms B says the Council commissioned inadequate care for the late Mr C and wants to know what monitoring procedures it has put in place to ensure the poor care Mr C received does not happen to others. Ms B says there should be stricter procedures in place for monitoring care providers and says the Council should implement robust monitoring procedures of care providers.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information and documentation Ms B and the Council provided. I sent Ms B a copy of my draft decision and considered her comments on it.

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What I found

4. Ms B’s organisation provided support to Mr C and complained to the Council about the level of care he received from his care provider. The Council investigated Ms B’s concerns and apologised for the failures in care provision it found in this case. It said the findings and outcomes of its investigation will be shared with the care provider for them to provide the necessary assurances regarding quality care provision, reimburse Mr C for any missed calls, request the care provider provide Mr C with a written apology and continue to review Mr C’s care provision.
5. Ms B remained unhappy and asked the Council to clarify how it manages contracts with care providers. The Council explained its Contract Team monitors compliance of care providers. This involves a telephone survey, visit to the office, review of compliance with ECM/other key performance indicators and review of information from complaints/safeguarding/quality alerts. It explained Mr C’s care provider was subject to enhanced monitoring which included them having to provide a Service Improvement Plan, monthly review meetings and visits to customers to review the quality of the service. It again acknowledged the level of care provided to Mr C was unacceptable and explained it was taking action to end its relationship with them. The Ombudsman could not make a different finding to that already provided to Ms B about the Council’s commissioning of care provider’s even if he investigated
6. Ms B is unhappy with the Council’s involvement and social worker assigned to Mr C’s case. The Council found no failings on this point.
7. Sadly Mr C has since died so the Ombudsman cannot remedy any injustice caused to him from the Council’s actions which an investigation might uncover. While Ms B has been pursuing this complaint on behalf of Mr C there is no separate injustice to her or her organisation warranting an Ombudsman investigation.
8. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the regulator of care providers. Ms B can ask the CQC to consider her concerns about the care provider during its routine inspections. Information about the CQC can be found on the website below.

https://www.cqc.org.uk/

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because he could not provide a remedy to Mr C for any injustice caused to him by the Council’s failings as he is now deceased.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman