Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about events in a care home. This is because Mrs X has the right to go to court.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains a care home acting on behalf of the Council did not properly care for her husband, Mr X. Mrs X states this resulted in Mr X having his foot amputated and facing more serious health problems.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Mrs X provided and discussed the complaint with her. I gave Mrs X the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

6. The Council was involved in arrangements for Mr X to go to a care home for a time. This means the Ombudsman considers the Council ultimately responsible for the care home’s actions, as paragraph 4 explained.
7. Mrs X removed Mr X from the home because she was dissatisfied with his care. Mrs X states she then discovered Mr X, who has diabetes, had a toe injury, which she believes can only have happened in the home. The home states it has no record of any injury. Mrs X told me the toe injury and resulting infection led to the amputation of that toe, then other toes and Mr X’s foot and Mr X might now face more major surgery to amputate his leg, which could endanger his life. Mrs X seeks compensation for the damage to Mr X’s health as well as an apology and service improvements.
8. The complaint is essentially about alleged negligence causing personal injury. Those are normally matters for the courts so the restriction in paragraph 3 applies.
9. Whether there was negligence and, if so, whether the Council or care home or both were liable, the extent of any liability and assessing damages and compensation are not necessarily straightforward matters legally. It is more appropriate for the courts than the Ombudsman to decide such points. We do not recommend compensation in the same way as the courts. In all the circumstances it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to use her right to go to court.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because of the right to go to court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman