Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the quality of care provided in a care home. This is because any injustice is insufficient to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Ms X has complained about the quality of care provided to her relative Ms Y in her care home. Ms X says this resulted in Ms Y having to move to another care home.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about adult social care providers and decide whether their actions have caused an injustice, or could have caused injustice, to the person making the complaint. I have used the term fault to describe such actions. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B and 34C)
3. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
4. We may investigate complaints from the person affected by the complaint issues, or from someone else if they have given their consent. If the person affected cannot give their consent, we may investigate a complaint from a person we decide is a suitable representative. (section 26A or 34C, Local Government Act 1974)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Ms X says Ms Y's room was not cleaned properly and the dishwasher was not working properly. Ms X says there were also problems with the quality of Ms Y’s meals, problems with the television and times when Ms Y’s personal clothing went missing or was stained. I know that these issues may have been frustrating for Ms Y, but they did not cause significant enough injustice to warrant us investigating.
8. There was a three-day period when staff gave Ms Y the wrong dosage of medication. Once this mistake was identified, the Care Provider made sure that staff gave the correct dosage and put measures in place to avoid it happening again. Ms Y suffered no adverse effects. This error may have distressed Ms Y and her family, but Ms Y was unharmed by it and the Care Provider corrected things. Therefore, this did not cause significant enough injustice to warrant us investigating.
9. On another occasion, the emergency services left an empty medicine container in Ms Y’s room, which the Care Provider did not immediately remove. While Ms Y may have been distressed by this, she was unharmed by the incident as the container was empty. Therefore, this did not cause significant enough injustice to warrant us investigating.
10. Looking at these issues both individually and together, Ms Y has not suffered serious enough loss, harm, or distress to warrant us investigating.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because any injustice caused to Ms Y is insufficient to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman