Summary: Mrs X complains about her mother, Ms Y’s, residential care which is funded by the London Borough of Camden and NHS West and North London ICB. We will not consider Mrs X’s complaint at this time. There are ongoing proceedings in the Court of Protection in relation to key aspects of Ms Y’s care. It would not be appropriate for us to consider her complaint further until the Court's proceedings have concluded.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains on behalf of her elderly mother; Ms Y. Mrs X complains about care provided to her mother by a residential care home (the Care Home). Ms Y’s care is jointly funded under Section 117 Aftercare by the London Borough of Camden (the Council) and NHS West and North London Integrated Care Board (the ICB). Mrs X’s complaints include decisions about Ms Y’s mobility, lack of suitable seating and access to physiotherapy. Mrs X says Ms Y was hospitalised twice with serious chest infections after being fed in bed.
2. Mrs X also complains about the actions of the Council including blocking attempts to move Ms Y to a different placement, failure to involve Mrs X in care decisions, poor complaint handling and lack of action on safeguarding concerns. Mrs X complains the Council has applied to the Court of Protection to remove her as her mother’s representative.
3. Mrs X says Ms Y has physically deteriorated because of poor care. Mrs X says she has been caused significant distress.
4. Mrs X would like Ms Y to be moved to an appropriate placement and to receive further physiotherapy. Mrs X would also like an acknowledgement of fault, an apology, systemic improvements and financial redress.

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The Ombudsmen’s role and powers

5. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and Health Service Ombudsman have the power to jointly consider complaints about health and social care. (Local Government Act 1974, section 33ZA, as amended, and Health Service Commissioners Act 1993, section 18ZA).
6. 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 there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.
7. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been, mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))
8. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.

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What I found

What happened

10. Ms Y is an elderly lady who lived in a residential care home. Ms Y has dementia and lacks mental capacity to make decisions about her care. Mental capacity is the ability to make an informed decision based on understanding a situation, the options available, and the consequences of the decision.
11. In December 2024, Ms Y was admitted to hospital. In February 2025, Ms Y was discharged to a new residential placement at the Care Home.
12. Ms Y’s placement was jointly funded by the Council and the ICB under Section 117 Aftercare. Section 117 of the Mental Health Act imposes a duty on health and social services to meet the health/social care needs arising from or related to the person’s mental disorder for patients who have been detained under specific sections of the Mental Health Act (e.g. Section 3). This is known as Section 117 Aftercare.
13. Mrs X raised multiple complaints about Ms Y’s care in the Care Home. She also raised several safeguarding concerns. Mrs X asked for Ms Y to be moved to a new placement. During 2025, Ms Y was admitted to hospital twice with aspiration pneumonia. Aspiration pneumonia is a serious lung infection that occurs when a person inhales foreign materials, such as food or drink, into their lungs.
14. In December 2025, Mrs X served a Pre-Action Protocol letter (a letter before court action) on the Council. Shortly after, the Care Home served notice to terminate Ms Y’s placement.
15. In late January 2026, Ms Y was admitted to hospital. Ms Y remains in hospital, despite being medically fit for discharge, due to an ongoing disagreement about her discharge arrangements.
16. The Council applied to the Court of Protection (the Court) about disputed aspects of Ms Y’s care, including where she should be discharged to. Legal proceedings are currently ongoing.

Analysis

The Court of Protection

17. The Court deals with decision-making for adults who may lack mental capacity to make specific decisions for themselves. The Court may need to become involved in particularly difficult cases or cases where there are disagreements that cannot be resolved in any other way. The Court:

• decides whether a person has capacity to make a particular decision for themselves; and
• makes declarations, decisions or orders on financial or welfare matters affecting people who lack capacity to make such decisions;

18. The Court is currently considering key aspects of Ms Y’s care, including where she should be discharged to.
19. We will not usually investigate if we think the complaint issues have been or could reasonably have been mentioned as part of legal proceedings. We will not consider Mrs X’s complaint any further while Court proceedings are ongoing. We need to know what matters were raised with the Court and the outcome of the legal proceedings before we can decide whether there are any remaining parts of Mrs X’s complaint we can and should look at.

Suitable representative

20. We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if the person involved has given their consent. We may also investigate a complaint on behalf of someone who cannot authorise someone to act for them, if we consider the person bringing the complaint to be a suitable representative. (Health Service Commissioners Act 1993, section 9(3) and Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(2)) (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1))
21. A ‘Lasting Power of Attorney’ (LPA) is a legal document which allows people to choose one person (or several) to make decisions about their health and welfare and/or their finances and property, for when they become unable to do so for themselves. The 'attorney' is the person chosen to make a decision on their behalf. The decision must be in the person’s best interests.
22. There are two types of LPA:

• Property and Finance LPA – this gives the attorney(s) the power to make decisions about financial and property matters, such as selling a house or managing a bank account.
• Health and Welfare LPA – this gives the attorney(s) the power to make decisions about the person's health and personal welfare, such as day-to-day care, medical treatment, or where they should live.

23. Mrs X is appointed Ms Y’s attorney for both health and welfare and property and finances.
24. The Council has raised concerns about Mrs X’s appointment. The Court is considering whether Mrs X should remain Ms Y’s attorney. We would need to know the outcome of this decision. This is important information we would need to consider when deciding if Mrs X is a suitable representative to complain on behalf of Ms Y.

Outcomes

25. Mrs X is seeking certain outcomes including Ms Y being moved to a placement she deems appropriate and Ms Y having access to further physiotherapy.
26. We cannot decide what level of care is appropriate for any individual or say where they should live. This is a matter of professional judgement and a decision that the relevant organisations have to make. Therefore, any action by us would not affect Ms Y’s future care.
27. The Court is currently considering aspects of Ms Y’s care including where she should live. The Court is the most appropriate body to consider this part of Mrs X’s complaint.

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Decision

28. The Ombudsmen will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint at this time. There are ongoing proceedings in the Court regarding key aspects of Ms Y’s care and Mrs X’s role as her mother’s attorney. It would not be appropriate for us to consider the complaint further until the Court's proceedings have concluded.
29. It is open to Mrs X to return to us after the Court proceedings if she remains unhappy. We can then properly consider whether Mrs X is a suitable representative for Ms Y and whether there are remaining parts of the complaint we can and should look at.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman