The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council completed an adult social care assessment. That is because there is nothing worthwhile to be achieved through further investigation.
The complaint
Miss X complained a Social Worker was rude to her and failed to consider her disabilities when they completed a care needs assessment. She also said the Council’s stage two response to her complaint was the same as the first response it sent her. Miss X said she had found the assessment process stressful. She wants the Council to complete a new assessment with a different assessor.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if: we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take, we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7) and 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. That is because, the Council has confirmed that since complaining, it has completed a care needs assessment for Miss X. As the Council has provided Miss X the outcome, she sought from complaining to the Ombudsman; there is nothing worthwhile to be achieved through further investigation.
In addition, Miss X’s view is the Council Officer acted unprofessionally and had decided she was not eligible for support before completing the assessment. The Council’s complaint response states Miss X was uncooperative during the assessment, and that the Council Officer was trying to differentiate between health and social care needs. Given the differing perspectives of events, it is unlikely we could come to a robust finding on what happened. If Miss X has concerns about the Social Worker’s conduct, these are best dealt with by Social Worker England.
Although Miss X is unhappy with the Council’s stage two response, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is nothing worthwhile to be achieved through further investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman