Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about care provided to her late father. There is no worthwhile outcome achievable through investigation. Further the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate it now.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the level of care her father, Mr Y, received from a care home arranged by the Council, between February and June 2023. She disagreed with the care home’s decision Mr Y should be hoisted and use a wheelchair after a fall. She also said he had an unexplained bruise on his back when admitted to hospital in June 2023 and that he had lost weight whilst living at the care home.

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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 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. 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 council or care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X complained about care provided to her late father by a care home between February 2023 and June 2023. She said he was often inappropriately dressed, had poor hygiene, lost weight during this time and that care home records were not accurate. She also said Mr Y had unexplained bruising when admitted to hospital in June 2023. Mr Y, who did not return to the care, died in August 2023.
7. Correspondence from the Council shows a safeguarding referral for Mrs X’s father in June 2023. If Mrs X was unhappy with the investigation, she could have complained about this at the time.
8. The Council says it did not receive a complaint from Mrs X about her father’s care before December 2024. It declined to investigate because it said the complaint was late.
9. We usually expect people to complain to the Council and then to us within 12 months of the events complained about. Mrs X complained to us in June 2024, but the Council had not received a complaint at that stage. There is no indication Mrs X could not have complained sooner, and I do not consider there are any good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the complaint now. Further, given the lapse of time and the dispute about the accuracy of the care home’s record-keeping, it is unlikely that we could achieve a worthwhile outcome by investigating further. We also could not recommend a payment to Mr Y for any injustice caused because he has since died.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman