Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about care provided to his late mother, Mrs C. This is because further investigation could not provide Mr B with a different outcome to that already given by the Care Provider or make a finding of the kind Mr B wants.

The complaint

1. Mr B complained about the care his late mother, Mrs C received from her Care Provider. Mr B says Mrs C’s Care provider did not keep accurate or detailed records of Mrs C’s daily needs, her nutritional needs, or her medication. Mr B is concerned about the care Mrs C received in the last few days of her life and says she suffered unnecessarily because the Care Provider did not arrange for the emergency services to attend but waited for a return call from her GP. Mr B says Mrs C was neglected by her Care Provider. In addition, Mr B complained they were refused access to pack Mrs C’s belongings after she had died.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 may decide not to start an investigation if 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

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

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My assessment

5. Records show Mrs C became acutely ill on the day she died and was attended to and pronounced dead by a nurse on duty. Although an ambulance was called it was cancelled as Mrs C had passed away. I have not seen any evidence that Mrs C suffered unnecessarily for three days prior to passing away without receiving care and support. Records show she reported having back pain the day before she died and had taken medication to ease the pain. When checked later that day Mrs C said her pain had eased. Mrs C’s GP was informed of her passing and said, having seen her the week before, her death was expected. Further investigation by the Ombudsman could not made a finding that Mrs C was neglected by her Care Provider or that emergency services should have been called sooner.
6. The Care Provider investigated Mr B’s complaints. It explained staff mistakenly referred to previous Covid-19 guidance regarding the packing of residents belongings, but this guidance had been updated so Mr B should have been able to pack Mrs C’s belongings. It apologised that he was not allowed to do this and recognised this would have been distressing for him. The Care Provider says it is working teams to improve the quality of information written in daily care logs and are facilitating training with staff and will continue to monitor record keeping. We could achieve no more than this even if we investigated.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because further investigation could not provide Mr B with a different outcome to that already given by the Care Provider or make a finding of the kind Mr B wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman