Under what circumstances it is deemed inappropriate for the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to investigate an issue raised about a repor…

When the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) consider a complaint about the Care Inspectorate, they consider the process by which the Care Inspectorate reached a decision, rather than the actual issue that was complained about. For example, the SPSO can consider a complaint that the Care Inspectorate took an unreasonably long time to answer a complaint, did not follow their own procedures, were biased in the way they considered a complaint or did not take into account relevant rules and regulations.
While the SPSO can investigate complaints about the Care Inspectorate itself, they are not part of the appeals process about care services or inspection reports. A person cannot appeal to the SPSO about a decision that the Care Inspectorate took in relation to a complaint about a care service and the SPSO cannot change decisions the Care Inspectorate have made, for example about quality grades or inspection reports.
Full details are available on the SPSO’s website at:
http://www.spso.org.uk/sites/spso/files/communications_material/leaflets_public/subject_factsheets/13_05_31_Care_Inspectorate.pdf