Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her late mother’s care following hospital admission. The Council has investigated Mrs X’s concerns, upheld parts of her complaint, apologised and taken action to improve. We could not add to the Council’s response or make a finding of the kind Mrs X wants.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to promptly identify a suitable care home placement for her late mother, Miss Y. Miss Y stayed in hospital longer than needed due to the Council’s delay. Mrs X believes the Council’s delay caused her mother’s death. She wants us to review and make a finding against the Council.

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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 effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (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 and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council has responded to Mrs X’s complaints about its handling of her mother’s adult social care needs until she passed away at the end of last year. It partially upheld Mrs X’s complaints and apologised for the initial six-week delay in progressing care act assessments and identifying a suitable care home placement for Miss Y. The Council explained it had approached over 40 care providers in the area, and all had declined to accept Miss Y.
6. Mrs X believes the Council’s delay in progressing Miss Y’s case meant she stayed in hospital longer than necessary and contracted pneumonia, which led to her death. She wants us to review the Council’s handling as she believes it should be held responsible for her mother’s death.
7. Miss Y sadly passed away at the end of last year. We could not provide a remedy for any injustice caused to her by the Council’s actions, even if we were to investigate and find evidence of fault. Mrs X was understandably upset at events just before her mother died. We could not say whether these would have been significantly different but for something the Council might have done or not, and that it actions caused significant avoidable injustice that has not already been addressed by the Council’s responses to Mrs X.
8. We have no remit to determine the cause of Miss X’s death or whether any action or inaction by the Council contributed to this. Such determinations fall under the remit of a coroner or the courts. We cannot achieve the outcome Mrs X wants in this respect.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because further investigation could not provide a different outcome to those already achieved. We cannot determine the cause of Miss Y’s death or whether this was caused by any action or inaction by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman