Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the care her late mother Mrs Y received from a Council-commissioned care firm. There is insufficient significant injustice to Mrs X to warrant an investigation. We also cannot achieve the outcome she seeks from her complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X is the daughter of the late Mrs Y. Mrs Y was in her 90s when she moved in 2023 to a care home placement commissioned and part-funded by the Council. Mrs X complains:
1. the care home neglected Mrs Y;
2. the home failed to implement Mrs Y’s care plan;
3. the home wrongly refused to have Mrs Y back after her last stay at hospital.
2. Mrs X says the care home caused Mrs Y’s death in hospital. She says she is heartbroken, stressed and depressed and wants compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement; or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information from Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The core complaint issue is about the standard of care Mrs Y had at the home prior to her death in hospital. Mrs X considers that care provision amounted to negligence. The Council’s response to the complaint shows Mrs Y had falls at the home. Officers noted Mrs Y fell two weeks after going into the home in late 2023. The Council also found that after a fall in 2024, several weeks before Mrs Y’s death, care staff did not follow proper protocol when responding to the incident. The Council could not substantiate other issues raised relating to the care.
6. The main impact of these care issues was on Mrs Y. We focus our investigations on matters where there has been significant personal injustice, but also where we can then provide outcomes for the recipient of the service. We cannot provide such outcomes where the service user has died. We are unable to provide a remedy for the late Mrs Y so will not investigate.
7. We recognise Mrs X considers the circumstances with the care home near the end of her mother’s life, including its decision not to take Mrs Y back after her hospital stay, caused Mrs Y’s death. We cannot make such a finding. Only the coroner can determine the cause or various causes of a person’s death. We realise Mrs X has been caused great distress by the loss of Mrs Y. But given we cannot find the care provider caused or contributed to Mrs Y’s death, we cannot say that loss and the understandable upset caused to Mrs X resulted from actions or inactions of the Council’s commissioned care provider. There is insufficient significant personal injustice to Mrs X stemming from the matters complained of to warrant us investigating.
8. We understand Mrs X considers the care provider was negligent in its care of Mrs Y and wants compensation. Negligence is a legal issue which can only be determined by a court. If Mrs X wants a decision that the care provider was negligent, she would need to take that claim to court. We cannot achieve a finding of negligence by investigating so will not do so. We also do not make awards of compensation such as a court may provide as part of its ruling; we recommend remedies for injustices caused by fault. Mrs X would have to seek compensation by taking the matter to court. That we cannot achieve the outcome Mrs X wants is a further reason why we will not investigate.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because:
• there is insufficient significant injustice to her to warrant an investigation; and
• we cannot achieve the outcome she seeks from her complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman