London Borough of Wandsworth (24 008 411)

Category : Adult care services > Safeguarding

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 06 Nov 2024

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult safeguarding. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement and any decisions made by the Court of Protection are outside our jurisdiction.

The complaint

  1. Ms X complained about the Council’s decision to make safeguarding enquiries into her care of her mother, Ms W. She said the Council’s actions caused her distress. She said the Council was also instrumental in the Court of Protection’s decision to remove Ms W from her care.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
  2. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
  3. 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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. The Council received a safeguarding referral about how Ms X was caring for Ms W. The Council undertook safeguarding enquiries in line with statutory guidance. It sought advice from medical professionals and asked Ms X for her comments on the concerns. It told Ms X the outcome of its safeguarding enquiries. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council conducted enquiries to justify our involvement.
  2. Alongside the safeguarding enquiries, the Court of Protection decided Ms W should be removed from Ms X’s care and placed in a nursing home. The law says we cannot investigate any matters that have been considered by the Court. That includes any information the Council has provided to the Court. Therefore, we cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council was instrumental to the Court of Protection’s decision making.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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