Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about information Mrs X was given by the Care Provider about why she could not visit her father at his care home. The Care Provider has accepted it gave Mrs X wrong information and there is nothing further we could achieve from an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Care Provider lied to her and said she could not visit her father in his care home because a number of residents were ill. She later found out that her father had said he did not want to see her. Mrs X says she found the Care Provider’s actions distressing.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about adult social care providers and decide whether their actions have caused an injustice, or could have caused injustice, to the person making the complaint. I have used the term fault to describe such actions. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B and 34C)
3. We investigate complaints about adult social care providers. 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 injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B(8) and (9))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The Care Provider accepts that a staff member gave Mrs X false information about why she could not visit the care home. The Care Provider has told Mrs X that this was because her father had said he did not want her to visit and it needed time to explore the reasons for this. The Care Provider says it did not want Mrs X to travel to the care home unnecessarily.
7. Mrs X’s father has since passed away. However at the time of the complaint he had capacity to make decisions about visitors and phone calls. The Care Provider should not have given Mrs X false information about why Mrs X could not visit the care home. However it has accepted this was wrong.
8. As the Care Provider has accepted fault there is nothing more we could achieve from investigating this complaint. Mrs X’s father chose not to see her and whilst this would be upsetting for her the Care Provider had to accept his wishes.
9. Mrs X says she would like staff to be disciplined. However, this is not an outcome the Ombudsman can achieve. We cannot become involved in employee and employer matters.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the Care Provider has accepted fault and there is nothing further we can achieve from investigating this complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman