Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about quality of care in a care home and the Council’s investigation of the matter. The Council accepts there was fault in its actions and those of the Care Provider it commissioned. It has apologised, and both it and the Care Provider have made service improvements. It has now agreed to take early action to recognise the outstanding injustice caused to Mr X and his mother, Mrs Y. It is not therefore proportionate to investigate the matter further.

The complaint

1. Mr X’s complaints about the Care Provider, commissioned by the Council, included:
• poor standards of care provided to his father, Mr Y, in a care home. This included not keeping Mr Y’s walking aids in reach, dressing him in inappropriate footwear, and staff not being responsive to Mr Y’s needs.
• delay in the home seeking medical intervention and informing the family when Mr Y was injured.
• cash having gone missing when Mr Y was admitted to hospital.
• inadequate supervision of residents.
2. Mr X also complained the Council did not investigate his concerns properly. He said the matter has caused significant distress to the family. He wanted the Council to provide further answers. He wanted an apology from the care provider, and service improvements to be made.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
4. 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).

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

7. If we investigated this complaint, it is likely we would find fault causing Mr X and his mother, Mrs Y injustice. The Council acknowledged there were failings in the standard of care provided to Mr Y, including failure to properly manage his wound after an injury. We could not say this caused his subsequent sepsis or his death, however his family are left with significant distress and uncertainty about whether the outcome would have been different but for fault.
8. Mr X’s and Mrs Y’s distress and uncertainty were then exacerbated by the Council's delay of eight months in investigating the matter, and the ultimate finding that many of their concerns had been justified.
9. The Council has apologised. We would not be able to recommend the Care Provider itself apologises, as our recommendations are to the Council as the body ultimately responsible for the actions of the Care Provider. I am also satisfied the Care Provider and Council have put in place service improvements to avoid the same issues reoccurring for others. The Council also waived Mr Y’s outstanding care fees. Further investigation by us would not provide more answers, as Mr X seeks.
10. The Council offered Mr X a symbolic payment of £100. The Ombudsman's Guidance on Remedies states that symbolic payments for things such as distress should not be offset against debts, therefore I have not considered the waiver of Mr Y’s fees as part of the Council's symbolic payment to Mr X and Mrs Y.
11. Given this, £100 is not sufficient to recognise the impact of these events on Mr X and Mrs Y. I have taken into consideration the significance of their distress and uncertainty, and the length of time this continued while the family awaited the Council’s investigation. Mr X did not specifically seek any further financial remedy from complaining to us, but it is likely we would recommend this if we decided to investigate the complaint. I therefore invited the Council to consider paying Mr X and Mrs Y an amount that better reflects the impact the above events had on them, to remedy the complaint at an early stage.

Back to top

Action the Council agreed to take

12. To its credit, the Council agreed to pay £500 each to Mr X and his mother, within one month of my decision. The Council is entitled to take the £100 already offered from this amount if it has already been paid to Mr X.

Back to top

Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has agreed to take suitable action to remedy the remaining injustice to Mr X and his mother. It is therefore not proportionate for us to investigate the complaint further.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman