Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the care her late father received at two nursing homes. It is reasonable for her to seek a legal remedy in the courts.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the care her late father Mr B received at Hillcrest Nursing Home and Beech Tree Nursing Home (“the nursing homes”) during 2022 and 2023. Mr B’s care was initially arranged and paid for by Northumberland County Council (the Council), and later it was funded under NHS Continuing Healthcare.
2. Mrs X complained about various matters including poor management of pressure sores, poor wound care, development of sepsis, inadequate pain relief, inadequate food and fluids, and development and management of contractures (shortening and hardening of muscles / tendons).
3. Mrs X said she believes her father’s poor care contributed to his premature death. She said these events had been physically and emotionally crushing for her.

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The Ombudsmen’s role and powers

4. The Ombudsmen have the power to jointly consider complaints about health and social care. (Local Government Act 1974, section 33ZA, as amended, and Health Service Commissioners Act 1993, section 18ZA)
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended and Health Service Commissioners Act 1993, section 4(1b))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered written information from Mrs X, and documents from the Council which included information about the nursing home complaints. I also considered the LGSCO’s Assessment Code.

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What I found

7. This complaint about the nursing homes includes elements of social care the Council was responsible for as commissioner. It also includes elements of NHS Funded Nursing Care and NHS Continuing Healthcare, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Health Service Ombudsman. Following the approach of the Health Service Ombudsman, we consider the nursing homes to be the responsible organisations for the nursing elements of Mr B’s care.
8. I have therefore included the Council as commissioner of Mr B’s care at the nursing homes, and the nursing homes as the provider of Mr B’s NHS-funded nursing care there.
9. Mrs X considers her late father’s care at the nursing homes was so poor that it amounted to negligence. She has shared her intention to pursue legal action against the nursing homes and says a letter before claim has been issued by her legal representatives.
10. The Ombudsmen cannot decide whether an organisation has been negligent; this is a matter for the courts.
11. The law says we cannot normally investigate when someone could take the matter to court. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended and Health Service Commissioners Act 1993, section 4(1b))
12. In light of this, and as Mrs X has already outlined her intention to pursue legal action against the nursing homes, we cannot investigate her complaint about these matters.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the care her late father received at two nursing homes. It is reasonable for her to seek a legal remedy in the courts.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman