Buckinghamshire Council (21 015 937)

Category : Adult care services > Residential care

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 02 Mar 2022

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to place Mrs Y in a care home closer to Mr X. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is nothing further we could achieve as the Council has now moved Mrs Y to a care home closer to Mr X.

The complaint

  1. Mr X complained the Council had arranged for his wife, Mrs Y, to be admitted to a care home which was too far from his home. Mr X said this made it difficult to visit Mrs Y and wanted the Council to move her to a home closer to where Mr X lives.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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

  1. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because the Council has now moved Mrs Y to care home closer to Mr X. We could not therefore achieve anything more.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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