Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a care provider’s lack of response to Mrs X’s request for records. The Information Commissioner is best placed to consider the matter.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council-commissioned Care Provider has failed to provide records about an incident involving her father in February 2023. She says the Care Provider’s lack of response has caused significant distress and the family cannot grieve properly until they know what happened. She wants it to provide the records she has requested.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X says an incident occurred in February 2023 involving her father, who has since passed away. She requested records from the Care Provider involved in the incident, but says it has not responded. She says the family cannot grieve properly until they know what happened.
6. Mrs X’s complaint is not currently about the care itself, and so in the absence of a wider complaint within our jurisdiction, this matter is better considered by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the body that deals with concerns about organisations’ information practices and can require the Care Provider to share documents if it decides this is appropriate.
7. Should Mrs X wish to complain to the Ombudsman about the care itself, it is open to her to do so. We do not require people to gather records themselves before complaining to us. If there is further delay in records being provided, she should not delay complaining to us past 12 months after the incident. We would expect that she complains to the Care Provider, or the Council that commissioned her father’s care, before coming to the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is a matter best considered by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman