Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the care provided to his mother by her care home and about the Council failing to communicate with him effectively. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the care provided to his mother by her care home. He also complains the Council failed to communicate with him effectively following his mother being placed in hospital in April 2023.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, 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. In April 2023, Mr X’s mother, Mrs Z, was sent to hospital in after being found wandering in the streets. Due to Mrs Z’s medical diagnosis, it was determined her mental cognition had significantly declined.
6. Mrs Z was discharged to a nursing home temporarily and later placed in a residential care home.
7. The Council made an application to the Court of Protection to decide what was in Mrs Z’s bet interest in relation to her long-term accommodation needs. This was because Mr X had objected to the residential care home placement as he wanted his mother to move closer to him.
8. Mr X complained about the care provided to his mother by the care home she was placed in and about the Council’s communication with him following her hospitalisation. The complaints are therefore about matters that happened more than 12 months ago. There do not appear to be any good reasons for why Mr X did not complain to us sooner.
9. As there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint, we cannot investigate.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman