Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the care provided to Mrs Y before her death in 2021. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about her mother’s (Mrs Y’s) care in a care home before her death two years ago. She says the events have caused her significant distress. The Care Provider met with her, has apologised and made service improvements. However, Mrs X says it has not provided the answers she wants or a remedy to reflect the injustice she and her mother experienced. Mrs X wants the Care Provider to pay a donation to a charity in Mrs Y’s memory.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. 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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mrs X raised concerns with the Care Provider in 2021 relating to Mrs Y’s care, while Mrs Y was resident in the care home. The Care Provider apologised following a change in management, by which time Mrs Y had passed away. It also made service improvements. Mrs X believed the Care Provider had dismissed the previous manager, and she was satisfied at this time with the action it had taken in response to her complaint. However, she later found out this was not the case, which prompted her to escalate her complaint.
7. The more time that passes after events, the less chance we have of coming to sound conclusions, and for this reason the law says complaints should be brought to us within 12 months of the person becoming aware of the matter. In the circumstances, further investigation would likely not lead to a different outcome. Due to the time that has passed, our ability to arrive at a robust, evidence-based decision is significantly reduced.
8. We also cannot remedy injustice to a person who has died, and we cannot become involved in personnel matters. We could not therefore say the previous manager should have been dismissed, nor can we take action in relation to her subsequent employment with a different care provider. I am not confident that there is a realistic prospect of reaching a sound, fair, and meaningful decision, nor that we could achieve a meaningful remedy if we investigated this complaint.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman