Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the respite care her late husband Mr X received at a care home commissioned by the Council. Investigation would not add to previous safeguarding enquiries nor lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains neither the Council nor the care home have properly responded to her complaints about the care her late husband received during a respite stay in Spring 2023. Mrs X says unanswered questions about Mr X’s care have profoundly affected her and the lack of closure has caused her distress.

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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 effect 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 an investigation if we decide 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

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

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My assessment

4. Mr X was admitted to receive respite care for a period of three weeks in early 2023, while his main carer, Mrs X was away. The Council commissioned and paid for the respite stay at the care home. Mrs X gave staff at the care home detailed information about caring for her husband before his admission.
5. When Mrs X collected Mr X from the care home, she found he had suffered skin damage which she believes was caused by inadequate continence care by care home staff. Mrs X says friends and family who visited Mr X while she was away reported other issues with the quality of care he received.
6. Mrs X complained to the care home a week after Mr X’s stay had ended. The care home advised Mrs X it had referred her complaint to the Council’s Safeguarding Team to investigate. The care home said it would write to respond to Mrs X’s complaints after the Council’s safeguarding enquiries had been completed.
7. The Council completed its enquiries in early September 2023. It did not identify sufficient evidence of neglect or abuse by the care home. The Council’s investigation highlighted an oversight by the care home as it had not completed a body map of Mr X to determine skin integrity on admission. The Council highlighted areas where the care home’s record keeping procedures could be improved, which the care home confirmed it had acted upon. The Council spoke to Mrs X about its findings by telephone and conveyed the care home’s apology for the issues identified.
8. Mrs X has since continued to correspond with the care home and the Council about her original complaint in March 2023. At various points from late 2023 to date, the Council and care home replied to Mrs X’s emails and have given further responses to her concerns. The care home manager also met with Mrs X to discuss the concerns she had about Mr X’s care.
9. Mrs X remains of the view that her complaint from March 2023 has not been fully answered. Evidence shows both the Council and the care home have sought to address the concerns Mrs X has raised as fully as possible based on their investigations, albeit this has occurred in a somewhat piecemeal fashion.
10. The Council has completed its safeguarding enquiries and made proportionate recommendations based on its findings, which the care home has accepted and acted upon. There would be no different or new information available to an investigation by us now which staff and officers have not already considered when responding to Mrs X. An investigation by us cannot alter nor add to those investigations or responses Mrs X has already received from the Council and the care home. We also cannot remedy any injustice that may have been caused to Mr X while he was in the care home because he has since sadly passed away.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we cannot add to the Council’s safeguarding investigation or the responses it and the care home have since sent to Mrs X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman