Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Care Provider treated Mr X when visiting his mother. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the actions of the Care Provider and we could not achieve a meaningful outcome by investigating the matter.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the care home where his mother Mrs Y lived. His concerns included how care staff treated him and his sister. He complained the Registered Manager acted unprofessionally towards them and used poor judgement when dealing with them, and that this was not addressed in the complaint response. Mr X said he and his sister were left feeling unwelcome and were not involved in Mrs Y’s care. They wanted explanations.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about adult social care providers. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the care provider; or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome; or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
  (Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B(8) and (9))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X told us he was satisfied some parts of his complaint had been addressed by the Care Provider’s internal complaints process. This related to complaints about how care staff had treated him and his sister, and their concerns about how
   Mrs Y’s finances were being handled. I have focused on the other areas of Mr X’s complaint, which he was not satisfied had been addressed.
6. Mr X’s outstanding complaint focuses largely on the actions of the Registered Manager at the care home, whose behaviour he felt was unprofessional, and who he alleged showed poor judgement when speaking with him and his sister.
7. We could not come to sound conclusions regarding these allegations. The concerns Mr X raised were largely about verbal conversations and his perceptions of the Registered Manager’s non-verbal communication. These are subjective matters, and we could not say now exactly what was said. Further investigation would not result in substantive evidence in relation to these matters. There is therefore insufficient evidence of fault, and we could not achieve the outcome Mr X seeks as we could not provide answers and explanations in relation to this.
8. Part of the complaint relates to the Registered Manager’s comments relating to Mrs Y’s mental capacity to make decisions about her finances and sharing of information. Mr X did not agree with her view of Mrs Y’s capacity. I have considered the Care Provider’s records, which demonstrate the considerations that took place regarding Mrs Y’s mental capacity. This included assessment by outside agencies who found Mrs Y had capacity in the above areas. There is insufficient evidence of fault to investigate this matter further.
9. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint-handling in isolation, when we are not investigating the substantive atter. We will not further consider Mr X’s complaints about how the Care Provider handled his complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the actions of the Care Provider and we could not achieve a meaningful outcome by investigating the matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman