Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s treatment of her father between 2017 and 2018. We will not investigate this late complaint. This is because there is not a good reason Mrs X did not complain to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s treatment of her father, Mr Y. Her concerns related to quality of his care, a decision to move him into a care home without involving the family, emptying his house of belongings without family involvement, supervision of family when they visited him at the end of his life, and delay in informing the family of his deterioration.
2. Mrs X says Mr Y was isolated in the care home whereas he had had daily contact with his family before then. She says some of the items in Mr Y’s house were her belongings. She is devastated. Mrs X says the family could not properly say goodbye to Mr Y at the end of his life, due to staff supervision.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Mrs X provided when she complained to us.
5. I considered Mrs X’s comments on my draft decision.
6. I considered complaints correspondence, provided by the Council.

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What I found

7. Mrs X says in late 2017, she raised a safeguarding alert with the Council as Mr Y was left with no medication, food or carers after the Council withdrew support. She says the Council placed Mr Y in a care home but did not allow the family to know where he was, leaving him isolated. She says the Council emptied Mr Y’s home and destroyed the items it had removed.
8. In June 2018, Mrs X received a call to say Mr Y was at the end of his life. The family was allowed to visit Mr Y but care home staff stayed present in the room to supervise. Mrs X says the family should have been told sooner about Mr Y’s deterioration. Mrs X says she has complained to the Council, but she has never received an acceptable response. The Council provided complaints correspondence relating to different complaints, and says Mrs X did not complain to it about some of the issues she now complains about, at the time.
9. We cannot investigate complaints made more than 12 months after the event, unless we decide there are good reasons. Mr Y died two years before Mrs X complained to us. Mrs X explained she was subject to police investigation between November 2017 and July 2020, and says she was advised not to pursue complaints during this time.
10. I have considered the nature of the police investigation and the nature of the complaints Mrs X raises with us now. I am of the view that, had she contacted us at the time, the police investigation would not have prevented our involvement. Nor do I believe our involvement would have been prejudicial to the police investigation. Mrs X knew about the Ombudsman as the Council signposted her to us in January 2018. It was open to her to contact us and discuss her complaint at the time. It is unfortunate Mrs X says she received advice not to pursue her complaints. However, it would have been for the Ombudsman to decide whether we could investigate at the time. We will not exercise discretion now to investigate this late complaint.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this late complaint. This is because there is not a good reason Mrs X did not complain within 12 months of events.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman