Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to not conduct a safeguarding investigation in relation to her late mother’s care at its nursing home. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to carry out a safeguarding investigation in relation to concerns she had raised about her late mother, Mrs Y and her placement at its commissioned nursing home. Miss X said the matter caused her distress. She wants the Council to acknowledge it acted with fault, apologise to her and ensure it makes improvements to prevent a recurrence of fault.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))
3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mrs Y lived in the Council’s commissioned Nursing Home. Miss X said other residents at the Nursing Home were walking into her mother’s room and behaving inappropriately. She raised a safeguarding alert with the Council.
7. In response to Miss X’s concerns, the Council’s Social Worker carried out an initial assessment to establish whether the situation met the criteria for a safeguarding investigation.
8. The Social Worker spoke with Mrs Y and with staff at the Nursing Home and concluded there was insufficient evidence which suggested Mrs Y was experiencing harm or was at risk of being harmed. The Council therefore decided the situation did not meet the criteria for a safeguarding investigation.
9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because the Council acted appropriately to establish whether the situation met the criteria for a further investigation which was in line with the Care Act 2014. There was no fault with how the Council made its decision. We recognise Miss X disagreed with the Council’s decision however, this does not mean the Council was at fault.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman