Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a Deprivation of Liberty referral. This is because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by further investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council:
• Did not have a proper process to allow him to make a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards referral; and
• Handled his complaint poorly.
2. Mr X would like the Council to apologise, accept its failings, review referral guidance and retrain its staff.
3. A ‘Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards’ is a legal process used to take away a person’s freedom for a period to keep them safe from harm. It is used for people who do not have capacity to consent.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X is the manager of a community care service. He contacted the Council to make a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) referral for a client. The Council said he could not make a referral because the process for community care referrals is different. Mr X disagreed and the Council sought legal advice to consider Mr X’s referral.
8. During this time the Council also received a DoLS referral for the same client by a different person.
9. The Council investigated Mr X’s complaint and accepted some failings during the referral process. It apologised to Mr X and gave feedback to the staff member to prevent recurrence. It also confirmed it would update its website and staff soon, with details of the referral process. There is nothing further investigation could add to the outcome already achieved by the Council.
10. Mr X also complains about the delay in the Council responding to his complaint and the content of its response. However, it is not good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint handling if we are not investigating the substantive matter.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by further investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman