Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about an accident Mr X’s mother had in a care home, which Mr X believed was due to inadequate assessment of her needs before her arrival. There is not good reasoning for the entire period of delay in the matter being brought to the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about a serious accident his mother, Ms Y, had in a care home within 24 hours of moving in, which he said resulted in her death. Mr X said the Care Provider indicated Ms Y had not been properly assessed by either it or the Council, and that it would not have accepted Ms Y had it known the level of her needs.
2. Mr X said the matter caused him significant distress. He wanted compensation and intended to pursue this via the courts following his complaint to us.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 council or care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The accident Mr X’s complaint relates to occurred at the beginning of February 2024, and Ms Y died within weeks. A safeguarding referral was made to the Council, but Mr X says he did not receive an outcome.
7. The law says complaints must be brought to us within 12 months of a person finding out about the matter. We may exercise discretion to disapply this requirement where it would not have been reasonable for the person to complain sooner. Mr X complained to us at the end of July 2025, nearly 18 months after the incident of which he was aware at the time. Given the complaint is late, the starting assumption is that we will not investigate it and I must consider whether there is good reason for the delay that would lead us to disapply this requirement.
8. Mr X began the process of complaining to the Care Provider in March 2025. He says he had been consumed by grief until that point. I have considered his natural grief when considering the timescales involved in him bringing the matter to us. I have also considered that it would have been reasonable for some time for him to expect he would be provided an outcome from the Council’s safeguarding investigation.
9. Despite this, Mr X could have started the process of complaining sooner. He could have sought support to do so had he not felt capable of complaining himself due to his grief. While I have considered Mr X’s grief, it is not uncommon for people to complain to us after losing a relative, and his grief alone does not provide sufficient justification for the period during which the matter was left to lie.
10. Mr X says the delay was also in part because he was waiting for complaint responses. However, this did not account for a significant portion of the entire delay. Had Mr X began the process of complaining before the end of 2024 the complaint could have been brought to us within 12 months of the incident. There is not sufficiently good reasoning for the entire period of delay, and we therefore will not exercise discretion to investigate this late complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s late complaint because there is not a good reason for the delay in bringing the matter to the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman