Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs A’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to investigate concerns she raised about her mother’s, Mrs B’s, hospital care under its responsibility as lead safeguarding authority. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council to warrant an Ombudsman investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs A says the Council should have instigated a safeguarding investigation when she alerted it to her concerns about her mother’s Mrs B’s hospital care. Mrs A says healthcare professionals refused to provide Mrs B with the specialist care she required, caused her further damage and distress and failed to provide her and other professionals with full medical records. Mrs A says she had to pay £12000 to transfer Mrs B to a Latvian hospital so she could get the care and treatment she needed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. 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:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as the NHS. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information and documentation Mrs A provided. I sent Mrs A a copy of my draft decision for comment.

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What I found

5. Mrs A complained Mrs B had been wrongly diagnosed by health care professionals and complained about the care and treatment she received in hospital. Mrs A asked the Council to investigate her concerns under its responsibility as lead safeguarding authority.
6. The Council explained to Mrs A she should follow the NHS complaints procedures and advised if she remains unhappy with the outcome of her complaints she should go to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). There is no fault with the Council’s advice or decision not to investigate the matters under its role as lead safeguarding authority.
7. Mrs A’s concerns are about the diagnosis and care Mrs B received in hospital. These are health care matters and not ones the Ombudsman can consider. As explained Mrs A can complain to the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and, if she remains unhappy with the outcome ask the PHSO to consider them further.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council to warrant an Ombudsman investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman