Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about matters related to the Council’s handling of her relative’s care charges. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains on behalf of her relative, Mrs Y, about the Council’s handling of Mrs Y’s care charges. She says Mrs Y did not receive correspondence to explain that her care would become chargeable, and from when.
2. Mrs X also says Mrs Y told the Council’s care service provider that she wanted her care to end when it became chargeable, however this did not happen.
3. Mrs X also complains about the Council’s complaint handling.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact 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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. A person may receive care free of charge from the NHS on discharge from hospital for up to six weeks. If they have ongoing care needs a council may meet these and they may be chargeable.
8. The Council has provided a detailed account of its contacts with Mrs Y and her daughter, Mrs Z regarding Mrs Y’s care charges. This includes:
• An in person visit in February 2024, before the Council started providing care. The Council says it left written information about charges with Mrs Y.
• An in person visit in March 2024, before the Council started providing care. The Council says it told Mrs Y it would charge for services from 7 April 2024. And that Mrs Y said she would complete a financial assessment.
• An in person visit in May 2024 during which the Council discussed its current care service with Mrs Y and she asked that Mrs Z support with completing a financial assessment. Then a week later, a phone call with Mrs Z in which she said she would try to complete the assessment.
• Phone calls on 11 and 16 July 2024 during which Mrs Y and Mrs Z expressed they did not want chargeable care to continue and the Council confirmed it would end the package of care.
9. On balance, there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify investigating. And our own investigation in the matter will not find anything further or lead to a different outcome. This is because the Council has records to show it did discuss care charges with Mrs Y. And while Mrs X and Mrs Y dispute this, an investigation by us is unlikely to find otherwise. Therefore, I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint.
10. It would not be a good use of public money to investigate the Council’s complaint handling in isolation.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman