The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to consider Ms X’s concerns about her child’s health. There is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our involvement.
The complaint
Ms X complained the Council did not consider concerns she raised about the health of her child (Y). Ms X raised concerns about Y’s eating habits.
Ms X said the matters caused a negative impact to her mental health.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
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 children’s services were involved with Ms X’s family.
During this involvement, Ms X raised concerns about Y’s health. Ms X complained the Council did not properly consider her concerns.
In its complaint response, the Council said health professionals had given opinions on Y’s health and did not share the same concerns as Ms X. It said it remained in contact with them as the involvement with the family was ongoing.
The Council said it could not investigate the actions of the health professionals through its complaints process.
The Council told Ms X she could contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) if she had concerns about the opinions of those professionals.
There is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our involvement here. The Council explained it had relied on professional opinions when considering Ms X’s concerns about Y’s health. This is appropriate.
We could not tell the Council it should investigate the actions of health professionals, or to disregard their opinions about Y’s health and take alternative action.
As the Council outlined, Ms X could complain to the PHSO if she has concerns about the opinions given by the health professionals, as they investigate complaints about UK government departments, including the NHS.
For these reasons, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman