Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the quality of care in a care home. We could not achieve anything meaningful by investigating the matter further.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about neglect and bullying of his wife (Mrs X) by staff in a care home the Council commissioned in early 2025. He said the matter had caused distress for Mrs X, and he wanted service improvements and staff training to be implemented.

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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 impact 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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, 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

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained to the Care Provider and the Council about several matters relating to the quality of Mrs X’s care. His concerns included Mrs X sometimes being dressed in underwear that did not belong to her, equipment not working and poor quality food.
6. The Council carried out a safeguarding enquiry. It found some of the concerns were substantiated, for example the Care Provider had identified Mrs X’s hospital bed had not been plugged in. When the Care Provider became aware of issues with equipment, it had replaced the equipment or rectified the issues.
7. Other elements of Mr X’s concerns were found to be unsubstantiated or inconclusive. In some cases, the Care Provider commented it had not been made aware of the issues at the time so had no records relating to these concerns. In other cases, the Council had viewed the records held by the Care Provider and satisfied itself that care had been appropriate.
8. The Care Provider apologised to Mr X in relation to the concerns that had been substantiated. It explained it had issued staff reminders relating to several elements of the complaint. The Council decided not to make any further recommendations to the Care Provider, as its contracts team had more recently visited the care home and noted no further issues related to the matters Mr X had raised.
9. Further investigation by us is not likely to achieve a different, or more meaningful, outcome. The Council investigated the matter and came to conclusions based on the available evidence. It is unlikely we would come to different findings or make further recommendations in this case. Mrs X has now moved to a different care home.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we could not achieve anything different or more meaningful by doing so.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman