Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has responded to concerns about residential care. That is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council had not responded to her emails raising concerns about her sister’s Miss Y’s care. She also said the care home where Miss Y lived was not accurately recording Miss Y’s incidents of self-harm. Miss X said her sister Miss Y is suffering as she is unhappy with the restrictions in place at the care home. Miss X wants the Council to respond to the emails she sends.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

5. Miss X’s sister, Miss Y lives in a residential care placement. Miss X raised concerns about the placement and her contact with Miss Y. These concerns were considered by the Court of Protection where Miss X and the Council signed a Working Together Agreement.
6. Following that, Miss X complained to the Council about aspects of Miss Y’s care. She also said the Council was not responding to her emails within the five-day timeframe specified in the Working Together Agreement. In the Council’s response to her complaint, it said it would meet with the care home about how it recorded self-harm. It also offered to arrange a meeting to discuss her other concerns. It said it could only respond to her emails in the five-day response time, if the number of emails it received was manageable. It asked her to send one email a week.
7. Although Miss X is unhappy with the Council’s response, we will not investigate this complaint. The Council has taken steps to address Miss X’s concerns with how the care home is recording self-harm. It has also offered to meet with Miss X to discuss her other concerns about Miss Y. That is an appropriate way forward and is in line with the Working Together Agreement.
8. The Working Together Agreement also says that Miss X will send one email a week, unless she has safeguarding concerns. Therefore, there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council asking her to send it one email a week for it to respond to.

Back to top

Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman