Summary: Ms X complained about the conduct of staff at the Care Home where her Grandmother, Mrs Y, was a resident. She complained the Care Home refused to let Mrs Y’s private carer visit her and it ended her contract with no warning. She said this negatively impacted Mrs Y’s care and caused distress for the family. We cannot investigate this complaint because the Care Home has now closed and so we cannot achieve a worthwhile outcome.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Care Home unfairly barred Mrs Y’s private carer from visiting her. She said this caused a decline in Mrs Y’s physical and mental health, because her carer was providing support that wasn’t available in the Care Home.
2. Ms X also complained about the conduct of a staff member (who I shall call ‘the Staff Member’) at the Care Home. She said the Staff Member was rude to her, the private carer, and other staff which caused upset to residents, visitors and staff.
3. Ms X said she raised her concerns with the Care Home but it refused to investigate her concerns and then ended Mrs Y’s contract with no warning.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about adult social care providers and decide whether their actions have caused injustice, or could have caused injustice, to the person complaining. I have used the term fault to describe this. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B and 34C)
5. We normally name care homes and other care providers in our decision statements. However, we will not do so if we think someone could be identified from the name of the care home or care provider. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34H(8), as amended)
6. 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)
7. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide 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

8. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Care Home as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. Ms X and the Care Home had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision before I made my final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

The Care Quality Commission

10. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the statutory regulator of care services. It keeps a register of care providers that meet the fundamental standards of care, inspects care services, and reports its findings. It can also enforce against breaches of fundamental care standards and prosecute offences.

The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations

11. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 set out the fundamental standards that registered care providers must achieve. The Care Quality Commission has guidance on how to meet the fundamental standards which care must never fall below:

• Regulation 9A sets out requirements on health and social care providers to make sure that patients and residents can have visitors and they are not discouraged from this.
• Regulation 10 says providers must give residents the support they need to be independent and involved in their local community.
• Regulation 16 ensures people can complain about their care or treatment and providers must fully investigate and act on concerns.
• Regulation 17 requires providers to have effective governance. As part of this, they must seek and act on feedback from people using the service so they can continually improve.

What happened

12. Mrs Y was a resident at the Care Home. Mrs Y had a private carer who would visit her and provide her with care.
13. In November 2024 Ms X complained to the Care Home about an incident. She said the Staff Member had shouted at Mrs Y’s carer, which caused them to cry.
14. Ms X complained the Staff Member told Mrs Y that if she was receiving visits from her private carer, she would not be allowed to use the same communal rooms as other residents during those times.
15. The Care Home responded and told Ms X the Staff Member did not shout at the carer. It said the Staff Member talked to them but has a strong and clear voice. It said, while it investigated her complaint, Mrs Y’s private carer was barred from the Care Home.
16. Two days later, the Care Home sent Ms X a letter to tell her it was ending Mrs Y’s contract, and so she had one month to leave the Care Home, which was the notice period in her contract.
17. Ms X asked the Care Home if it would consider extending the one-month notice period, to allow her time to find a suitable alternative Care Home for Mrs Y. Ms X said she would try her best to move Mrs Y as soon as possible, but she wanted reassurance that Mrs Y would not be left without a placement if she did not manage to find somewhere else in one month.
18. The Care Home did not agree to Ms X’s request. It suggested Ms X could take Mrs Y home and have her private carer look after her if she could not find anywhere suitable in time.
19. In December 2024 Ms X complained to the Care Home about the Staff Member challenging her when she visited Mrs Y. She said the Staff Member asked her why she was there and so she wanted to know if the Care Home had restricted her right to visit Mrs Y. She also complained she witnessed the Staff Member shouting at a different staff member, and the Care Home had still not formally responded to her previous complaint.
20. Later in December 2024, Mrs Y moved to a new care home.
21. The Care Home then told Ms X it would not be responding to her as Mrs Y had left the Care Home and so it had nothing further to say.
22. Ms X then complained to us. We wrote to the Care Home in June 2025 to let it know about Ms X’s complaint.
23. In August 2025 the Care Home told us it barred Mrs Y’s private carer because they were taking pictures of other residents.
24. We then asked the Care Home for further information, but it did not respond to us.
25. After looking into the Care Home further, we found out it has now closed.

Analysis

26. We cannot investigate this complaint because the Care Home closed before it could respond to us with the information we asked it for. Therefore, we cannot make sound findings on what likely happened in Ms X’s complaint.
27. However, as Ms X said the Care Home:

• discouraged or prevented Mrs Y from having visitors;
• stopped Mrs Y from joining in activities with other residents if she had her private carer visit;
• refused to investigate and respond to her concerns; and,
• ended Mrs Y’s contract without warning which risked her being without a placement,

28. If we had been able to investigate and we had upheld any part of Ms X’s complaint, it is likely we would have had serious concerns about the Care Home’s ability to meet the fundamental standards of care.

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Decision

29. We cannot investigate this complaint because we cannot achieve a worthwhile outcome because the Care Home has now closed.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman