Summary: Ms C complains about her father’s discharge from hospital into a care home. Ms C complains the discharge occurred without her knowledge, provided inadequate care, and was too far away. We will not investigate this complaint as the issues date back to 2023 and are too long ago to properly investigate.

The complaint

1. Ms C complains NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB (the ICB) and Nottinghamshire County Council (the Council) placed her father, Mr D, into residential care without her knowledge or consent. Ms C complains the care home did not provide proper end of life care and the general care inadequate. The care home was too far away for family to visit.
2. Ms C says Mr D did not receive the care he should have and family could not visit as often as they wanted, causing them distress and frustration.

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The Ombudsmen’s role and powers

3. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and Health Service Ombudsman have the power to jointly consider complaints about health and social care. (Local Government Act 1974, section 33ZA, as amended, and Health Service Commissioners Act 1993, section 18ZA).
4. 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 an organisation has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended, and Health Service Commissioners Act 1993, section 9(4).)
5. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault,
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
  (Health Service Commissioners Act 1993, section 3(2) and Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Ms C and the Council. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
7. Ms C had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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My assessment

8. Mr D was in a care home placement which broke down and resulted in admission into hospital. Some people kept in hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983 are entitled to get free help and support after they leave hospital under section 117 Mental Health Act 1983. This is known as 'section 117 aftercare services'. In April 2023 Mr D went into another care home as part of what appear to be section 117 aftercare services. It appears at this time Mr D lacked capacity to make decisions about his care.
9. Ms C, as the Lasting Power of Attorney (the legal authority to support/make decisions) for health and welfare, says no one consulted or told her about Mr D’s move into the new care home. Ms C says the care home provided was too far away and did not provide satisfactory care to Mr D, especially when he was receiving end of life care. Ms C complained to the Council in May 2023. The Council records that after a discussion with Ms C it closed the complaint at her request. Mr D died in November 2023.
10. The law says a person must bring their complaints to us within 12 months of them finding out about the matter. We can disapply this requirement if it would not have been reasonable for the person to complain sooner. Ms C complained to us in February 2026, over two years after the incidents occurred and Mr D’s death. I must consider whether there is good reason for the delay that would lead us to disapply this requirement.
11. Ms C says she did not complain earlier because she has health problems and tires easily. She also says she approached both CQC and the police for help but neither did anything. Ms C says it was only after a friend provided advice that she complained directly to the care home and came to the Ombudsmen.
12. I appreciate Ms C’s health problems would have impacted her. However a delay of two years is significant and it would have been reasonable for Ms C to complain to us sooner. We do not usually accept the lack of knowledge about the Ombudsmen as sufficient reason for a delayed complaint. It also appears Ms C was aware of the Ombudsmen, as she made a complaint about her mother’s care in a different care home in the same time period. I therefore consider there are no good reasons why Ms C could not have brought a complaint about issues affecting her earlier.
13. As it appears Mr D lacked capacity to decide about his care, it is unlikely he would have been able to make a complaint in his own right. Mr D was therefore reliant on Ms C to make a complaint on his behalf. In these circumstances we cannot say complaints about his care are late.
14. However, the Ombudsmen must also consider whether an investigation would lead to a worthwhile outcome. Because of the passage of time, I do not consider we can properly investigate this complaint. The more time passes between the events and a complaint, the more unlikely it is we can investigate them effectively, gather reliable evidence, and reach a sound decision. We are often unable to show why events occurred or understand who was responsible.
15. Even if we were to reach findings on the complaint, as Mr D has now died we cannot remedy his personal injustice. For these reasons, I have exercised the Ombudsmen’s general discretion not to investigate complaints about Mr D’s care as they are too long ago to properly investigate.

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Decision

16. We will not investigate this complaint as some complaints are out of time and others are too long ago to properly investigate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman