Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the care provided to Mr Y up to 2023. There is not a good reason for the delay in the matter being escalated to the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Care Provider’s actions towards her father when he lived in the care home, until 2023. She said the Care Provider abused Mr Y and used medication to keep him docile. She said the matter ultimately led to Mr Y being evicted, and significant distress for the family. She wanted the Care Provider to be held to account.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mrs X’s complaint is about events in the care home up to late 2023. Her sister complained to the Care Provider in September and October 2023.
6. Mrs X then complained to us in July 2025. The law says we cannot investigate complaints made to us more than 12 months after a person became aware of the matter, unless there are good reasons for the delay.
7. Mrs X says in the interim, she tried to exhaust every avenue and did not know where to escalate the complaint. Our details are available via an internet search, and if they did not receive any response from the Care Provider, the route for complaint escalation was to us. In any event, attempts to escalate to regulatory organisations such as the Care Quality Commission would have led to Mrs X being signposted to us.
8. Mrs X also explained both her parents required support, and she also worked full time. While I understand significant life events were occurring, Mrs X and her sister could have complained to us at the end of 2023 or sought support in doing so. The requirement for complaints to be made to us within 12 months is because further delay reduces our ability to carry out a meaningful investigation. There is not a good reason in this case for us to disapply this legal requirement.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s late complaint because there is not a good reason for the delay in the matter being escalated to the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman