Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Care Provider not formally notifying Mrs Y’s family when she became a permanent resident of the care home. The Care Provider has already provided a suitable remedy, via its internal complaints process, for any injustice we would identify if we investigated the matter. Further investigation by us would not achieve a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Care Provider communicated inaccurate and inconsistent information about the status of her mother’s (Mrs Y’s) placement. Miss X said the family had only signed a short-term contract when Mrs Y entered the home for respite in late 2023, but the Care Provider had more recently claimed the placement became permanent after six weeks. Miss X said no formal notification was ever issued and no revised contract was ever signed.
2. Miss X said the Care Provider’s actions contributed to financial harm as the relevant local authority assessed Mrs Y as having been a permanent resident since 2023. Miss X received threats of legal action. She said the matter placed Mrs Y’s care at risk and caused significant distress and uncertainty.
3. Miss X wanted the Care Provider to acknowledge fault and provide explanations, correct its record, pay a financial remedy and make service improvements.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
5. We may also decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe 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

6. I considered information provided by the complainant.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mrs Y moved into a care home in late 2023, initially as a short-term resident for a period of two weeks. However, she did not return home. Miss X asked the relevant local authority (the Council) to assess Mrs Y’s finances in late 2024, when her funds had reduced to below the upper capital limit of £23,250.
9. The Council decided Mrs Y had been a permanent resident of the care home from late 2023, and therefore any disregard of her property from her financial assessment would have applied at that time, when Mrs Y had funds over £23,250 in any event. Mrs Y was responsible for paying the full cost of her care placement from December 2023 onwards.
10. Miss X complained to us and we confirmed in our decision statement that the Council’s position was appropriate.
11. Miss X subsequently complained to the Care Provider as she considered it had misled the Council. She says it never issued any formal notification of Mrs Y becoming a permanent resident, nor had any formal contract ever been produced.
12. The Care Provider acknowledged via its internal complaints process that it had not provided clear or formal written communication, or a revised contract, confirming Mrs Y’s transition from a respite placement to a permanent arrangement. It acknowledged this had caused confusion and distress. It apologised and explained the learning it had taken from the matter.
13. If we investigated this complaint, we would not achieve a different outcome. There is not a debate here about the date from which Mrs Y became a permanent resident. Our previous decision statement was clear and was not subject to any successful challenge by Miss X. The fault in question here, which the Care Provider acknowledged, was in it not providing formal notification or a revised contract at the time Mrs Y became a permanent resident.
14. When we consider what injustice has been caused to a person, we consider what would have happened but for any fault. But for fault, formal notification would have been issued and a revised contract agreed in early 2024. Mrs Y would still have been liable for the full cost of her care since December 2023. The injustice caused in this case was not financial, and was instead confusion and distress. The Care Provider has already provided a suitable remedy for that in line with our guidance and we will not investigate the matter further.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the Care Provider has already provided a suitable remedy via its internal complaints process, and further investigation by us would not achieve a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman