Summary: Mrs X complained about the quality of care provided to her late mother at a care home. We have ended the investigation as it is unlikely further investigation by us would lead to a different outcome and Mrs X says she has started legal action which will consider the same matters raised in the complaint to us.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the quality of the care provided to her late mother Mrs Y at the Council commissioned care home. In particular that it failed to refer Mrs Y to the GP despite Mrs X requesting this, failed to properly monitor her condition, failed to keep adequate records and delayed calling an ambulance when her condition had deteriorated. Mrs X says this caused her and the family significant distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(1)(A) and 25(7), as amended). In this case the Council commissioned the care home so we consider th care home was acting on the Council’s behalf.
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. 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:

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

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

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered Mrs X’s complaint and discussed it with her on the telephone. I have considered the care provider’s response to Mrs X’s complaint.
6. I gave Mrs X and the Council the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I considered any comments I received in reaching a final decision.

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What I found

7. Mrs Y moved into the care home for a short term respite stay following a hospital admission. Mrs Y fell ill during her stay and died a short time later.
8. Mrs X complained to the care provider about the quality of care provided to Mrs Y at the care home. In particular, she complained about the failure to refer Mrs Y to the GP, the failure to monitor her properly, poor record keeping and a delay in calling an ambulance.
9. In its complaint response, the care provider acknowledged a number of failings in its care and set out the actions it was taking to prevent a recurrence of the failings.
10. Mrs X remained unhappy and complained to us. Mrs X says she has started legal action and that the Council is also considering her concerns under its safeguarding procedures.
11. We cannot award compensation in the same way the courts can or make recommendations to punish councils or care homes. We remedy individual injustice that results from fault and recommend service improvements to prevent recurrence. In its complaint response the care provider set out the action it has taken to prevent a recurrence of the faults it identified. It is unlikely that any further investigation would add to this or lead to a different outcome. In addition, we cannot remedy any injustice to Mrs Y as she has died.
12. Mrs X says she has started legal proceedings. It is likely this will consider the same or closely linked matters as Mrs X has raised in her complaint to us. I have therefore ended my investigation. This is because the complaint to us is closely connected to the matters the court will be asked to consider.

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Final decision

13. I have ended my investigation as it is unlikely further investigation would lead to a different outcome and the legal action is likely to consider similar matters to those raised in the complaint to us.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman