The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council considered Mr X's concerns about another resident. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complained that the Council’s Adult Social Care service failed to take sufficient action to deal with the risks posed by a resident and failed to consider its safeguarding duty to him and his wife. Mr X says that he and his wife were placed at risk of harm for longer than necessary which caused significant distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X raised concerns with the Council about risks posed to him and his wife by another resident.
We will not investigation Mr X’s complaint. In response to our enquiries, the Council provided information about the action taken. We cannot provide the details of the action taken as it is personal information about a third party which we cannot disclose. But the information provided by the Council shows it followed the proper processes when considering the concerns about the resident. So, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation into Mr X’s complaint.
Mr X says the Council failed to consider its safeguarding duty to him and his wife. A council must make safeguarding enquiries if it thinks a person may be at risk of abuse or neglect and has care and support needs which mean the person cannot protect themselves. The Council said Mr and Mrs X did not meet the criteria for a safeguarding enquiry as they do not have care and support needs. So, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint as there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman