Medway Council (25 007 147)
Category : Adult care services > Safeguarding
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 01 Dec 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to conduct a safeguarding investigation concerning Ms X. This is because there is insufficient fault to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
- Ms X complained about the Council’s decision not to conduct a safeguarding investigation regarding treatment she received in hospital.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X complained the Council failed to act on a referral her GP made regarding hospital neglect she experienced.
- The Council considered the referral and decided the threshold for a safeguarding investigation was not met. The Council told Ms X to raise her concerns with the hospitals directly and offered her a care assessment, but Ms X declined this.
- Ms X wants us to find fault with the Council’s actions. The Ombudsman will not investigate a complaint unless there is evidence of significant fault. The evidence shows the Council considered the referral and decided the issues were best dealt with by the hospitals involved. The Council also offered Ms X a care assessment to address her personal needs. There is no evidence of fault in the way the Council made this decision, therefore an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient fault to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman