Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that her father’s care provider failed to provide him with the care they were commissioned to provide and about the Council’s poor communicate during its safeguarding enquiries. This is because the likely fault has not caused any injustice to Mr Z. In addition, there are no worthwhile outcomes achievable.

The complaint

• Mrs X complains her father, Mr Z’s, care provider failed to provide him with the care they were commissioned to provide and that there was poor communication during the Council’s safeguarding enquiries. She also complains about the Council’s handling of her complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

• 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 an investigation if we decide:
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

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How I considered this complaint

• I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
• I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

1. I recognise it is likely Mrs X considers her brother did not provide adequate care to her father and this is due to her father presenting at hospital with several pressure ulcers. However, an investigation is not likely to lead to the us concluding the cause of the pressure ulcers were solely down to poor care provided by Mr Z’s family and that these would have been avoided if a care provider had been delivering the personal care support. Therefore, an investigation is not justified as there are no worthwhile outcomes achievable.
2. Finally, we will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s complaint handling as we are not investigating the substantive matter.

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Final decision

• We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the likely fault has not caused any injustice to Mr Z. In addition, there are no worthwhile outcomes achievable.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman