Ms X complained about the Health Board’s Speech and Language Therapy service. The Health Board had failed to provide a response to the concerns she had raised in April 2021.
The Ombudsman found that the Health Board had acknowledged Ms X’s concerns and sought some additional information, which was provided by Ms X. The Health Board decided that the complaint was out of time but did not inform Ms X or explain why it was not investigating her concerns. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Health Board therefore agreed to, within 20 working days, provide Ms X with a written explanation for its decision not to investigate her complaint and an apology for the failure to inform Ms X, on receipt of the complaint, that due to the time period involved, it was unable to investigate.
The Ombudsman’s view was that the above action was reasonable to settle Ms X’s complaint.