Summary: Ms B complains the Council is responsible for causing her stress which led to her visiting the hospital and undergoing medical tests. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council and we cannot conclude its actions led to her requiring medical testing.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms B, says the Council is responsible for causing her stress which led to her visiting the hospital for medical tests and that it should take responsibility for this.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Ms B and the Council. I gave Ms B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

4. The Council’s Social Services have been involved with Ms B and her family. In August 2019 Ms B rang the team and spoke to a manager at some length about various concerns she had.
5. Subsequently, Ms B made a complaint to the Council that it was causing her stress and that she had found the manager’s manner towards her during the call to have been disrespectful and unprofessional. She claimed that this had contributed to her having to undergo hospital tests.
6. The Council responded to Ms B’s complaint by explaining it was sorry that she felt this way and apologising for any distress caused to her. The Council checked the case notes that had been made after the call and set out the information the officer had been trying to obtain given Ms B had raised a safeguarding concern about a family member.
7. Dissatisfied with the Council’s response, Ms B complained to the Ombudsman

Assessment

8. Having read the contemporaneous case notes made by the manager after Ms B’s call, I have seen no evidence to suggest there has been fault by the Council in the way it dealt with her. It properly addressed her complaint and apologised for any distress caused to her.
9. An investigation by the Ombudsman would not be able to conclude that the Council’s actions led to Ms B having to undergo medical tests and I see no grounds to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman of this matter.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council and we cannot conclude its actions led to Ms B requiring medical testing.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman