Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about inadequate hospice care treatment and alleged failings during a Council safeguarding process. This is because we cannot investigate where the Council is not responsible for actions complained about. Further, the matters we could investigate have been brought to us late and there are no good reasons why we should exercise our discretion and investigate now.

The complaint

1. The complainant (Mr X) complains about the treatment his partner (Miss Z) received in hospice care before she died in 2022. He also complains the Council failed to properly safeguard Miss Z from poor care and treatment and did not appropriately include him in the legal process under the Care Act 2014.
2. In summary, Mr X says the alleged fault meant Miss Z did not receive adequate care and treatment. He also says he suffered distress and anxiety on account of being excluded from medical decisions and the legal safeguarding process. As a desired outcome, he wants the Council to be held accountable.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We cannot investigate a complaint where the body complained about is not responsible for the issue being raised. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(1), as amended).
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Hospice care

6. I recognise Mr X’s complaint relates in part to matters concerning the care and treatment his partner received in hospice. He also complains he was excluded from care and treatment decisions. These matters concern the actions of medical professionals independent of the Council. We have no legal jurisdiction to investigate where the Council is not responsible for the alleged fault. The legal restriction I outline at Paragraph three (above) applies. We cannot investigate these matters and I must therefore limit my assessment to matters of the Council’s actions with respect to its legal safeguarding duties.

Adult safeguarding

7. The legal restriction I outline at Paragraph four (above) inserts a time limit for a member of the public to bring their complaint to the attention of the Ombudsman. Its intention is two-fold: to provide us with the best opportunity of arriving at a robust, evidence-based decision on complaints about recent events and to ensure fairness by enabling us to decline an investigation into historic matters, which could and should have formed the basis of a complaint to us far sooner.
8. The part of the complaint we could investigate concerns safeguarding actions by the Council in mid-2022. The evidence I have considered shows that Mr X was aware of the alleged failings then. The complaint is therefore late as it concerns alleged failings which occurred more than 12 months from Mr X becoming aware of the problem. Mr X raised formal complaints to the Council seven months later in early 2023. The Council sent Mr X formal responses in mid-2023 which signposted him to the Ombudsman should he wish for us to consider the complaint. Mr X brought his complaint to us seven months later in early 2024.
9. I have considered whether there are good reasons to exercise discretion with respect to our time limits. In doing so, I have considered Mr X was aware of the alleged problems and was capable of articulating his concern to us, as he was with the Council. Even were I to disregard the time taken to complete the Council’s complaints process, this still leaves a period of 14 months where the complaint was not being progressed or actioned. In other words, it could have reached us much sooner and within 12 months of Mr X becoming aware of the problem. I also considered the alleged injustice is limited to the time period complained about and the Council responded to the complaint in detail and signposted Mr X to the Ombudsman when it provided responses to Mr X. For these reasons, I see no good reason why the complaint could not have reasonably been brought to us sooner. I will not therefore exercise my discretion.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate where the Council is not responsible for actions complained about. Further, the matters we could investigate have been brought to us late and there are no good reasons why we should exercise our discretion and investigate now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman