Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the residential care provided to her mother Ms Y. There is insufficient significant injustice to Ms X and Ms Y caused by the matters complained of to warrant us investigating. An investigation by us would not achieve a different outcome than that provided by the care provider.

The complaint

1. Mrs X is Ms Y’s daughter. Ms Y has dementia and a lung condition. She has been at a home run by the Care Provider since 2024. Ms X complains the care home’s staff have not given Ms Y appropriate care, including provision which has not taken proper account of her lung condition.
2. Ms X was concerned about the state of Ms Y’s room and worried about her health during the heatwave. Ms X says the matters have been emotionally and physically exhausting for her. She says she has had to visit the care home more regularly while also having a full-time job, to ensure Ms Y was getting the care she expected, and has spent time contacting other bodies about the care matters.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about adult social care providers and decide whether their actions have caused an injustice, or could have caused injustice, to the person making the complaint. I have used the term fault to describe such actions. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B and 34C)
4. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement; or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B(8) and (9))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information from Ms X, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms X raised various issues in relation to Ms Y’s care at the home. The issues connected to Ms Y’s health conditions were incidents where an oxygen tube caught under her chair, tablets were found on Ms Y’s floor, a call bell was not placed within her reach, and her room’s temperature reached 31C. We recognise these would be concerns for Ms X and may have caused some discomfort to Ms Y. But there is insufficient indication these matters affected Ms Y’s conditions or health to a significant degree. The other issues Ms X raised about the care home’s provision for Ms Y included complaints about clothing, room cleanliness, meals and record‑keeping. We recognise Ms X has also had distress from the matter, inconvenience from additional visits to Ms Y, and has spent time pursuing her concerns with the care firm and other bodies. But neither these impacts nor the care matters complained of have caused such significant personal injustice to Ms X or Ms Y to warrant us investigating here.
7. We understand Ms X may consider the standard of care Ms Y has received is not in line with her expectations, taking into account the cost of the care. Questions about a placement being value for money are not a consideration when we are determining whether to investigate. It is for those paying for the care to decide whether the placement should continue. We recognise moving a relative to a new care home is a difficult decision, particularly when they have a condition such as dementia. Families must decide whether their relative would be best to stay in a placement with which they have some concerns or would be better served by moving. A new placement is an option available to Ms X and her family, but is a decision balancing all factors which only they can make for Ms Y.
8. The care provider’s complaint response has acknowledged and apologised for the issues Ms X has raised about Ms Y’s care. Had we investigated, this apology is the outcome we would have sought here. That an investigation would not achieve a different outcome than the one provided by the care firm is a further reason why will not investigate.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because:
• there is insufficient significant injustice to Ms X and Ms Y caused by the matters complained of to warrant us investigating; and
• an investigation by us would not achieve a different outcome than that provided by the care provider.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman