Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about care she received in 2022. This is because the Care Provider has apologised and cancelled the charges. We are satisfied the injustice caused has been remedied by the Care Provider. There is no ongoing injustice to Mrs B warranting an ombudsman investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complained about care she received between 13 November 2022 and early December 2022. Mrs B says the carer was very slow completing tasks, had to be supervised to undertake them, did not complete personal care due to the time taken completing other tasks, lied about completing tasks, did not cook or remember how to use equipment and had poor personal hygiene. Mrs B says the Care Provider did not respond to complaints properly, did not tell her the outcome of her complaints, or inform her about monitoring of carers. Mrs B is concerned the Care Provider has refused to accept fault or confirm if they had met with the carer about her concerns.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about adult social care providers and decide whether their actions have caused an injustice, or could have caused injustice, to the person making the complaint. I have used the term fault to describe such actions. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 34B and 34C)
3. We cannot investigate a complaint if it is about a personnel issue. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5a, paragraph 4, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The Care Provider met with Mrs B and her advocate in January 2023. It apologised to Mrs B for the services she had received and confirmed she would not be charged for the care.
7. Mrs B is concerned she has not received a written outcome of what the Care Provider has done regarding the monitoring and dismissal of carers. These are personnel matters and not ones Mrs B can request the Care Provider respond to. We cannot investigate personnel matters. While she has been pursuing a written response, Mrs B’s injustice in 2022 was the poor care she received. The Care Provider apologised and cancelled invoices for this period. There is no ongoing injustice to Mrs B to warrant us investigating further.
8. The Care Provider confirmed it has undertaken additional training and monitoring of care workers since 2022. It says it has enhanced its communication between care workers, service users and their families, strengthened its quality assurance processes to include regular checks and audits and personalised care plans include specific cultural, dietary and mobility requirements. We could achieve no more than this even if we investigated.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because we are satisfied the injustice caused to Mrs B by the actions of the Care Provider has been remedied.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman