Leicestershire County Council (24 004 705)

Category : Adult care services > Safeguarding

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 04 Nov 2024

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mrs X complains about the Council’s failure to support her son properly in the time leading up to his death. We have discontinued the investigation into this complaint, as the coroner will be holding an inquest into the son’s death, which is likely to consider similar issues to those Mrs X has complained to the Ombudsman about.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains about the Council’s failure to support her son properly in the time leading up to his death.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I have considered the information provided by Mrs X and spoken to her about the complaint. I have also considered the Council’s responses to Mrs X’s complaints, which it sent to us.

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What I found

What happened

  1. Mrs X’s son, Mr Y, killed himself in August 2023. Mrs X says the coroner will be holding an inquest into the circumstances leading up to Mr Y’s death. That will include evidence from the Council’s Approved Mental Health Practitioner (AMHP), who was involved with Mr Y in late 2022. It may also include other evidence from the Council, which instigated the Vulnerable Adult Risk Management process for Mr Y.
  2. When responding to Mrs X’s complaint The Council declined her request for a meeting to discuss her concerns, on the basis it would not be appropriate while the coronial process was ongoing.

Should we continue the investigation into this complaint?

  1. When I spoke to Mrs X, she agreed it would be best to postpone any investigation into her complaint until after the inquest has been held. There is likely to be some overlap between the issues Mrs X has complained about, which include the actions of the AMHP, and the coroner’s inquest. It would therefore be appropriate to wait for the outcome of the inquest before investigating Mrs X’s complaint.

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Final decision

  1. I have discontinued the investigation, as it would not be appropriate to investigate the complaint before the inquest into Mr Y’s death.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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