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Adult Social Care - Leaflet IL03HOME » ARTICLES » RESOURCES » ADULT SOCIAL CARE IL03 Adult Social Care - Comments, compliments and complaints"If you have any comments or complaints about the service you are receiving, we want to hear them." What is this leaflet about?This leaflet tells people who use Adult Social Care or Children's Services (both formerly Social Services), or other people acting for them, how to make a comment or complaint. It applies to all the services that we can or must provide by law. Our policy about comments and complaintsWe want to provide quality services that, as far as possible, meet the needs of all the people who use these services. We are always looking at ways of improving services. Your views give us valuable information about our services and how we provide them. If you have any comments or complaints, we want to hear them. Using this procedure, we aim to sort out any problems as quickly as possible and learn from them. We will treat your comments and complaints confi dentially. If you make a complaint, we will treat you fairly and it will not affect the quality of services you receive in the future. This procedure is in line with the Children Act 1989 and the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990. How can I make a comment or complaint or give a compliment?Write to:Adult Social Care Complaints Officer or Children's ServicesComplaints Officer
County Hall (The line is open from 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday, and from 8.30am to 4.30pm on Fridays.) Fax: 01273 481331 Who can make comments or complaints, and what about?You can complain if you use Adult Social Care or Children's Services, or you can ask someone to complain on your behalf. We will need to be satisfied that you (or the person complaining for you) are giving genuine views. There are special rules about who can complain. You can complain about Children's Services if you: are a child or young person who is in our care or who we have assessed as being in need; are a parent or any person who has parental responsibilities for a young person who is in our care or who we have assessed as being in need; are a local-authority foster parent of a child or young person who is in our care; or have a valid interest in the welfare of a child or young person who is in our care or who we have assessed as being in need. Complaints about Adult Social Care or Children's Services can be about a whole range of things, and we welcome your comments. What if my service is provided by Adult Social Care or Children's Services and another organisation, such as health?We are committed to working with other organisations to sort out complaints, and have developed a procedure for dealing with complaints that involve more than one organisation. If you agree, wherever possible, one organisation will take responsibility for dealing with your complaint. If, for whatever reason, this is not possible, we will make sure that we work closely with the other organisation to make sure that we act together. What is the procedure for making complaints?Stage 1: Local resolutionComplaints made by adults about adult social care services or children's social care services If you are not happy about services you receive, we want you to tell us. In all cases, we will try to put things right within 15 working days and, whenever possible, the problem should be sorted out informally and quickly. Complaints made by children and young people There are special arrangements when a child or young person makes a complaint. Staff who receive a complaint will acknowledge the complaint, in writing, and tell the department's complaints officer that they have received a complaint and are dealing with it. We will respond to complaints from children and young people within 14 days, unless there are exceptional circumstances which prevent this from happening. If you are a child or young person and you make a complaint, we will remind you of your right to have a representative and will arrange a representative for you, if you want one. Stage 2: Formal investigation - this applies to adults, children and young peopleWe want to make sure you get a fair deal when you use our services. We will always be happy to correct misunderstandings, explain the situation or put things right. Most problems are sorted out at stage 1. However, if you are still not satisfied after talking to the manager concerned, you should make a formal complaint (in writing) under the second stage of the procedure. Your written complaint should be as brief and clear as possible. If you need help to make your complaint, please contact the complaints officer. When you make your complaint, it will help us if you say what result you want. When the complaints officer receives your letter, they will write to you within three working days confi rming that they have received your complaint. We will appoint an investigating officer to look at your complaint. He or she will not have been responsible for the service that you are complaining about. If the complaint is about services that we provide to a child or young person, we also appoint an independent person. This person is not a member or officer of the council. At the end of the investigation, both the investigating officer and the independent person will write a report. Using these reports, a senior manager will make a decision about what we should do. You will receive a letter from the senior manager within 28 working days of your complaint being agreed with the investigating officer. Wherever possible, we will respond to formal complaints within 28 working days. However, in some circumstances we may have to agree that it can take longer (this should not be more than three months). You will also receive a copy of the investigation report (and the independent person's report if the complaint is about a service provided for a child or young person). The letter will offer you the opportunity to discuss your concerns with the senior manager. It will also tell you about your right to ask for the next stage of the procedure if you are still not satisfied. Stage 3: Complaints review panelIf you want a review panel to hear your complaint, you need to contact the complaints offi cer within 28 days of receiving the senior manager's letter. The complaints offi cer will set up a review panel to meet within 28 days of receiving your request, and will keep you fully informed about this part of the process. The panel will be made up of three people, including an independent person who will chair the meeting. This will not be the same independent person who has considered your complaint at stage 2. The panel will include a county councillor and a senior manager who has had nothing to do with the service that you have complained about. The panel will write a report, giving its recommendations and the reasons for them, within 24 hours of its meeting. The report goes to the director of Adult Social Care or Children's Services as appropriate and to those who took part in the meeting. The director will send you a letter within 28 days of the review panel meeting with his or her comments on the panel's recommendations, and explaining what action we need to take. Children and young peopleIf it has not been possible to sort out a complaint at stage 1, the complaints officer will arrange a formal investigation (stage 2) if you ask for one. The complaints officer will be available to meet with you, and will follow carefully the progress of the investigation. We will appoint an independent person to help an investigating officer carry out the investigation. The investigation will be carried out within 28 days. Local Government OmbudsmanIf the review panel has considered your complaint and you are not satisfied with the director's response, you can contact the Local Government Ombudsman. The complaints officer can give you contact details and a leaflet on 'How to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman'. The Ombudsman's address is at the back of this leaflet. Exceptions and special circumstancesWe may need to change this procedure sometimes to meet other legal demands. Information arising from, or connected to, a complaint may lead to action under: staff disciplinary procedures; a police criminal investigation; a child-protection investigation; or a legal process such as applying for a court order or, for example, a legal claim for negligence against us. When this happens, we will need to suspend the complaints procedure until these other processes are completed. We will tell you why we need to suspend the complaints procedure and we will deal with your complaint as soon as possible. We also have the right to refuse complaints that are repetitive, anonymous (we do not know who they're from) or malicious. Complaints about decisions or recommendations about child protection made through the Area Child Protection Committee (ACPC) are not covered by these procedures. There are separate ACPC procedures which the complaints officer can tell you about. ComplimentsWe also welcome compliments. If you are pleased with the services you have received and you think that they have made a difference, we want you to tell us. We publish details of compliments as well as complaints in order to present a more balanced picture of how we work. You can pass your compliments on to staff who you have direct contact with or to their managers. Can I get help to make a complaint?All our staff should be able to help you to put a complaint in writing. Staff in the Complaints Unit are also available to help you make any comments or complaints. Complaints officersWrite to: Adult Social Care Complaints Officer or Children's Services (The line is open from 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday, and from 8.30am to 4.30pm on Fridays.) Fax: 01273 481331 Other useful addressesLocal Government Ombudsman Commission for Social Care Inspection Mental Health Act Commission Getting more copies of this leafletThis leaflet is one of a series of leaflets that we produce about our services in East Sussex. You can also get leaflets for Children's Social Care. You can get more copies from Social Care Direct. IL01 Adult Social Care - who we are and what we do IL02 You and your information IL03 Comments, compliments and complaints IL04 Voluntary and community organisations in East Sussex IL05 Community support for adults IL06 Choosing a care home IL07 Daycare services IL08 Home-care services IL09 Physical disability services IL10 Services for people with sight or hearing problems IL11 Learning disability services IL12 Paying for services IL13 Direct Payments - managing your own support IL14 Involving users and carers IL15 'Supporting People' Programme IL16 Safeguarding adults - protecting vulnerable adults from abuse Because we have added new titles to this series, the numbering for previous titles may be different in the new editions. You can get all our leaflets in large print, in Braille, on audio tape, on CD or in other languages if you ask us. Please phone Social Care Direct on 0845 608 0191. They are also available in mp3 and PDF formats, which you can download onto your computer from our website at www.eastsussex.gov.uk. How to contact usYou can get more information about social care services by contacting Social Care Direct. Phone: 0845 608 0191 (calls charged at a local rate) Minicom: 0845 608 0191 (calls charged at a local rate) Fax: 01323 466567 E-mail: socialcaredirect@eastsussex.gov.uk Website: www.eastsussex.gov.uk You can also contact us by text message from your mobile phone. Please text to 07797 878111. Please note: Sussex Mad is only helping share this information, not actually involved with creating it, so please send questions to the Social Care Direct not Sussex Mad! If you have any more information on this leaflet and think it would be useful, please send it to me and I will add it. |
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