Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about poor care by a domiciliary care agency and the Council’s subsequent investigation. There is not a good reason the complainant did not contact us sooner.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about poor care provided to her mother, Mrs Y, by a domiciliary care agency. She says the Council did not properly respond and investigate when she raised concerns. It significantly delayed responding and has not been proactive. The family have experienced distress and they believe the poor care contributed to Mrs Y’s death. They want a proper investigation and answers.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

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

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My assessment

5. The complaint relates to the actions of a Council-commissioned domiciliary care agency in 2020. Mrs X believes poor care contributed to her mother’s (Mrs Y’s) death in late 2020. Mrs X has since referred the matter to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) then the Council’s safeguarding adults team.
6. We usually expect people to complain to us within a year of events. Mrs X says contacting CQC caused some delay in coming to us. Complainants are not required to contact CQC before they can bring complaints to the Ombudsman. Mrs X complained to the Council in June 2021, and it did not reply. There is some evidence she chased the Council during the delay.
7. We explain on our website that we consider 12 weeks sufficient time for councils to provide a final complaint response. Therefore, Mrs X could have contacted us around September 2021, given that she had not received any response from the Council. She contacted us in April 2022. There is not a good reason for the delay and we will not therefore investigate matters from 2020 now.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s late complaint because there is not a good reason she did not complain to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman