Summary: A woman complained that the council did not allow her mother to live with her daughters, did not want her to go to the care home the family wanted, and called her with incorrect information. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault causing injustice.

The complaint

1. A woman I will call Mrs B complained that:
1. Social workers from the Council did not allow her mother, who I will call Mrs A, to move to her or her sister’s home, and instead planned to send her to a care home.
2. The Council wanted Mrs A to go to a particular care home (Care Home 1), when the family wanted her to go to a different one (Care Home 2).
3. A social worker contacted her after her mother’s death to ask for payment for a care home, where the Council’s records incorrectly said she had lived before her death.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully.
3. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify the cost of our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

4. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs B in writing and by phone. I listened to a recording of a meeting between Mrs B, other members of her family, social workers and hospital staff. I reviewed social care records supplied by the Council. I considered relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. I shared a draft of this decision with Mrs B and considered her comments.

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What I found

What happened

7. Mrs A was admitted to hospital on 22 October 2017. In late November, plans started for her discharge from hospital. Assessments of Mrs A’s needs indicated that her needs would best be met in a nursing home placement. The Council planned to arrange a six week placement for Mrs A to see whether she needed to be in a placement long term.
8. There was a family meeting on 29 November. The Council’s notes say the family was considering Care Home 1, a nursing home. One of Mrs A’s daughters told the Council she was upset that the Council was not discussing caring for Mrs A at home. The social worker gave the daughter general advice, and suggested that they discuss this at the next family meeting.
9. The next meeting was on 4 December. The Council’s records say Mrs A had recently been diagnosed with depression and started taking antidepressants. The social worker suggested a short term placement to allow time for the antidepressants to work and to give Mrs A time to decide on her long term plans. The family said they found it worrying the previous week when they were asked to find a care home for Mrs A within a week, but they had since found Care Home 2, a care home without nursing care. They discussed the options, and staff suggested Mrs A visit Care Home 1 to see whether she liked it. The family asked whether Mrs A could be reassessed if she went to Care Home 1 and did not like it, and the social worker said it would be for a short term stay so she would be reassessed.
10. The family chose Care Home 2, which considered that it could meet Mrs A’s needs. The plan was for Mrs A to go there in December, but she was not well enough.
11. On 26 December, Mrs A sadly died in hospital.
12. On 27 December, the Council’s financial assessment team called Mrs B about a meeting arranged for 3 January for a financial assessment. Mrs B says the person who called did not know that Mrs A had died, and that they mistakenly believed she had lived in a care home since early December.

My view

13. I see no indication of fault with the plan to arrange a short term placement for Mrs A. This was to allow time for her to recover, time for her antidepressant medication to take effect, and time for long term plans to be made. Had Mrs A lived for longer, the possibility of her living with one of her daughters could have been fully explored during that time. Therefore, I consider it unlikely that I would find fault if I investigated this matter.
14. The records show that the Council facilitated the family having a choice about which placement Mrs A went to, and plans were made for her to go to the home the family preferred. I see no indications of fault here.
15. Given that Mrs A’s death was so soon before the phone call of 27 December, it is unlikely that I would find fault with the Council for not realising she had died the previous day. It may be a shortcoming that the Council was not clear about whether Mrs A moved into a care home in early December, but I do not consider that the lack of clarity about this caused a significant enough injustice to warrant the cost of an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Decision

16. My view is that the Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because on two parts of the complaint it is unlikely I would find fault, and I do not consider that the remaining part is serious enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman