Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her mother, Mrs Y’s hospital discharge. This is because the complaint is late and it was reasonable for Mrs X to have complained sooner. Even if we did investigate, we could not add to the Council’s investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her mother Mrs Y’s discharge from hospital to a care home.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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

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

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My assessment

6. Mrs X complained about the care her mother Mrs Y received at a care home in 2023. She said the care home did not give medications as prescribed, and her condition deteriorated leading to hospital re-admission. Mrs X says Mrs Y’s wish had been to die at home but the resulting poor care and re-admission to hospital prevented this. Mrs Y later passed away in hospital.
7. The council carried out a section 42 enquiry which concluded its findings in May 2024. A police investigation found no evidence of foul play in relation to Mrs Y’s death. Mrs X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman in October 2025.
8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. The Ombudsman normally expects people to complain to us within 12 months of them becoming aware of a problem. I see no good reason why Mrs X could not have brought the complaint to us sooner.
9. Even if we exercised our discretion and treated Mrs X’s complaint as on time, it is unlikely we would investigate as we could not add to the Council’s investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is late and it was reasonable for her to complain sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman