Summary: Ms X complained staff at a care home where her father lived did not contact her when he died. There was no fault because staff contacted another family member.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained Tilson House Care Home (the Care Home), which Leicestershire County Council (the Council) arranged and funded, did not contact her when her father Mr Y died. She said this caused her a financial loss and avoidable distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)
3. The Council contracted with the Care Home to provide Mr Y’s care under powers and duties in the Care Act 2014. We can investigate the Care Home’s service. Any fault we find is a failing by the Council.
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered Ms X’s complaint, the Care Home’s response and documents described in this statement. I discussed the complaint with Ms X.
7. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law, guidance and policies and procedures

8. The Care Home’s end of life policy says the manager should inform the resident’s next of kin of the death of their relative in a sensitive way, taking into account time of day and distance from home. The manager should avoid doing this by phone wherever possible.

What happened

9. Mr Y lived in the Care Home from 2014 until his death at the beginning of August 2018. Ms X told us she did not learn of her father’s death for 18 months and she had not seen or spoken to him for some time before he died. Mr Y was divorced and had two daughters, Ms X and her sister, who do not speak to one another.
10. The Council told me:
• Mr Y moved into the care home in 2014 and it arranged and funded the placement which was initially for four weeks.
• Mr Y owned properties in another country.
• Mr Y had mental capacity to make decisions about his finances. He had a deferred payment agreement (this is a legal agreement where the Council funded his care and he agreed to repay the care home fees once the properties were sold)
• In 2017, Ms X told council officers she had not spoken to her father in over a year and she did not want to be involved in his finances
• He agreed a payment plan in 2017 but then cancelled the direct debit. He then travelled abroad to sell a property at the end of 2017
• Officers met with Mr Y in June 2018 and he told them his house sold and he owned another house. He would not say how much money was in his accounts. Officers told him he would have to pay the full cost of his care.
• Mr Y wrote a cheque for some of the outstanding money, but the bank did not cash it. He died several days later.
11. The Care Home’s record on the day Mr Y died said staff were ‘unable to get hold of NOK (daughter).’
12. A letter from the care home had Ms X’s address and two mobile telephone numbers which are different from the mobile telephone number Ms X gave to us when she complained to us. The Care Home’s complaint response said staff tried to reach her on both of these numbers to tell her Mr Y had died.
13. At the start of August 2018, the Care Home’s administrator emailed Mr Y’s solicitor abroad to advise them Mr Y had died and asked them for the contact details of his solicitor in the UK. This information was provided. The administrator emailed the solicitor again to ask for contact details of Mr Y’s daughter as they were struggling to get hold of her to tell her Mr Y had died and had been in touch with his cousin and his sister and no-one knew if he had a will or if there was a power of attorney. The solicitor replied saying they did not have any details as they dealt with Mr Y directly over selling his properties abroad.
14. By the last week of August, there had been email and possibly phone contact between Ms X’s sister and the Care Home. I have seen an email from the sister to the manager of the Care Home about several matters concerning Mr Y including his possessions and documents.
15. Ms X wrote to the care home in May 2021 saying her family abroad told her the Care Home contacted them at the time of Mr Y’s death to say they had not been able to speak to the next of kin. She asked why the Care Home did not write to her if they could not get hold of her by phone. She said her father had stopped contacting her 18 months before he died and had also stopped contacting his relatives abroad. The Care Provider responded in June saying:
• It had no information about Mr Y’s personal finances or accounts and she needed to contact the Council about financial matters.
• The Care Home’s manager attempted to contact her by phone from the information on file and by retrieving a contact number from Mr Y’s mobile phone.

Was there fault?

16. There was no fault. The Care Home’s records indicated staff phoned Ms X shortly after Mr Y’s death but they could get through to her. I am satisfied the Care Home eventually established contact with Ms X’s sister to inform her of Mr Y’s death. Once a close relative had been informed of Mr Y’s death, there was no further obligation for the Care Home to write to Ms X or to continue phoning her as staff had already told a family member Mr Y had died. There was no legal or other requirement for the Care Home to contact more than one family member. Care homes do not have the capacity to contact more than one relative and it is reasonable for them to assume the person who has been contacted will inform other family members.

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Final decision

17. Ms X complained staff at a care home where her father lived did not contact her when he died. There was no fault because staff contacted another family member.
18. I have completed the investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman