The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council tricked him into signing a form for his mother, Mrs Y, without explaining what it was. That is because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
Mr X complained a Council Officer tricked him into signing a consent form. He said the Officer had told him the form he was signing was his mother's, Mrs Y’s care needs assessment. He feels the Council has abused its position of trust.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: Any fault has not caused an injustice to the person who complained; and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council’s complaint response to Mr X said the consent form was to allow the Council to speak to Mrs Y’s GP. It accepted there was some confusion about the forms it had asked Mr X to sign and apologised for this. The Council said it would place an alert on Mrs Y’s care records that she had withdrawn her consent to share. It said it would write to Mr X and confirm consent had been withdrawn.
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint further. Any fault that Mr X complains of has not caused Mrs Y a significant injustice. In addition, the Council has withdrawn Mrs Y’s consent for it to contact her GP. Further investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because any fault has not caused his mother, Mrs Y an injustice, and as there is nothing further we could add to the Council’s investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman