Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a reported safeguarding concern. This is because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council:
• Stopped him visiting his family member;
• Communicated with him poorly; and
• Handled his complaint poorly.
2. Mr X would like the Council to allow him to visit his family member, provide more information about the safeguarding process and contact him in due course.
3. Mr X also complains about the conduct of an NHS staff member. He asked the Council to apologise on her behalf and provide her with additional training.

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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. A council must make enquiries if it thinks a person may be at risk of abuse or neglect and has care and support needs which mean the person cannot protect themselves. An enquiry is the action taken by a council in response to a concern about abuse or neglect. An enquiry could range from a conversation with the person who is the subject of the concern, to a more formal multi-agency arrangement. A council must also decide whether it or another person or agency should take any action to protect the person from abuse. (section 42, Care Act 2014)
8. Mr X’s family member lives in accommodation providing healthcare. The Council received a safeguarding referral which concerned Mr X’s behaviour towards his family member.
9. The Council has now arranged for Mr X to have supervised contact with his family member whilst the enquiries are ongoing. The documents I have seen show it provided him with additional information about the safeguarding process and said it will contact him in due course. It also directed him to the appropriate authority to deal with his complaint about an NHS staff member. Mr X has therefore achieved the outcome he was seeking within the Council’s remit. Further investigation is unlikely to achieve anything more.
10. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaints procedures if we are not investigating the substantive issue.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman