Sheffield City Council (21 009 735)

Category : Adult care services > Safeguarding

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 14 Jun 2022

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s care or what happened during a best interests meeting. This is because it is unlikely an investigation would add to the Council’s response or achieve a worthwhile outcome for the complainant.

The complaint

  1. Mr X has complained on behalf of himself and his late mother, Mrs Y, about how the Council dealt with Mrs Y’s care and safeguarding concerns. Mr X has also raised concerns about what happened during and following a best interests meeting for Mrs Y.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:
  • we could not add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
  • further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
  3. Mr X had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision and I considered his comments before making a final decision.

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My assessment

  1. Mr X has previously complained about issues relating to Mrs Y’s care. The Ombudsman investigated these matters and issued a decision statement. I will not address the issues already considered in Mr X’s previous complaint.
  2. Mr X has since received further information and raised additional concerns about the Council’s handling of Mrs Y’s care. He has complained about the actions of Mrs Y’s social worker and advanced practitioner and complained about how the Council dealt with allegations raised about him. Mr X says there were delays completing Mrs Y’s mental capacity assessment and the Council’s records were complicated and unclear. Mr X has also complained the Council failed to take Mrs Y’s hearing and sight impairments into account.
  3. In response to Mr X’s concerns, the Council said some of the correspondence Mr X referred to in his complaint was no longer available due to the time that had passed. However, it accepted Mrs Y’s hearing and sight impairments should have been considered and support offered. It also acknowledged that better language could have been used in the minutes for the July 2016 meeting and some of the case records were unclear and badly written. It apologised and said training would be carried out to improve communication.
  4. I consider it unlikely an investigation by the Ombudsman could add to this response or achieve anymore for Mr X. The Council has already apologised and set out the changes it has made. It is unlikely we would recommend anything further. It is also unlikely we could achieve a worthwhile outcome due to the length of time that has passed since the issues Mr X has complained about occurred as it is likely relevant information will no longer be available.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we could add to the Council’s response or achieve anymore for Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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