Summary: Mr X and Mrs Y complain about poor care provided to their late relative, Mrs Z, in a Council funded Care Home. We will not investigate. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. Further investigation is unlikely to achieve a worthwhile outcome or lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X and Mrs Y complain about aspects of the care provided to their late relative, Mrs Z, in 2022 - 2023.
2. In particular, Mr X and Mrs Y say there were delays by the Care Home in noticing Mrs Z was suffering from oral thrush. And that when they moved Mrs Z to a different care home Mr X and Mrs Y were told by the new care home that Mrs Z’s bottle of medication should not have been as full as it was. Mr X and Mrs Y believe the oral thrush spread to Mrs Z’s oesophagus leading to her not being able to eat and drink resulting in her death.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. In 2023 the Care Home responded to the complaint denying care failings and listing regular reviews of Mrs Z by GPs and other NHS staff.
8. We will not investigate. This is because we are unlikely to achieve anything worthwhile due to the time passed. In our experience, the further away some one complains to us about matters occurring in the past; due to faded memories, staff turnover, possible changes in care home processes and so on, we are less likely to gather relevant evidence to substantiate the complaint.
9. Having said that, even if we investigated and found fault in aspects of the care provision to Mrs Z, the injustice would have been to Mrs Z. We cannot provide a remedy to Mrs Z as she has died. We will not investigate where an investigation cannot provide a remedy because the person who could have been affected has died.
10. And finally, we could not make a finding that the actions of the Care Home contributed to Mrs Z’s death. Only a coroner can determine this and if concerned open an investigation into the cause of death. Mr X and Mrs Y report the new care home stated that Mrs Z’s medication should have been mostly used up when Mrs Z was admitted (to the new care home). If so, it would have been reasonable to expect it to have raised a safeguarding concern with the Local Authority, if it was concerned any health needs were due to the actions of the previous care home.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X and Mrs Y’s complaint because we are unlikely to achieve a worthwhile outcome or achieve a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman