Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about the care her late mother, Mrs C, received from her Care Provider or the Council’s safeguarding investigation into concerns she raised about the care. This is because we are satisfied the Council considered Mrs B’s concerns under its responsibility for safeguarding vulnerable adults and further investigation could not make a finding of the kind Mrs B wants.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complained that her late mother’s, Mrs C’s, Care Provider continued to give her medication when it had been stopped by her health practitioner. Mrs B is concerned the continuation of the medication may have shortened Mrs C’s life. Mrs B says in addition to this there was another incident where Mrs C’s son visited and found her gasping for breath. Mrs B is concerned the Care Provider would not have called the emergency services if it had not been for her brother’s insistence.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council investigated both Mrs B’s concerns under its responsibility for safeguarding vulnerable adults. The Council found evidence to substantiate the allegations and made recommendations to the Care Provider.
6. While Mrs B has not had the answers she wants to all her questions about what happened it is not the role of the Ombudsman to provide these. We could not say whether the giving of medication after health professional requested it cease caused an early death, only a coroner could make this finding. We could not say whether the Care Provider may not have called for the emergency services if her brother had not visited Mrs C. We could not provide a remedy to Mrs C for any injustice caused to her from the actions of her Care Provider because she is now deceased. We are satisfied the Council investigated the concerns under its role as lead safeguarding authority, substantiated the allegations and made recommendations. We could achieve no more than this even if we investigated. The CQC are aware of the concerns and will follow up during its inspections. Mrs C was admitted to hospital and discharged to a different home, where sadly she died in March 2021.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because we are satisfied the Council considered Mrs B’s concerns under its responsibility for safeguarding vulnerable adults and further investigation could not make a finding of the kind Mrs B wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman