How to complain about Adult Care Social Services:
Guidance to the Statutory Adult Social Care Complaints Procedure:
If you feel unhappy about our service to you, we want to hear from you. We want to try to make it right for you and we have a duty to make it clear how you can do this.
Do not worry about speaking up if you are unhappy. Adult Social Care want to put things right for you as quickly as possible.
Who can make a complaint?
You can make a complaint to Adult Care and Support if we:
- Have done an assessment with you
- Give you a service
- Give you a direct payment or individual budget
If you need someone to help you, you can choose someone to speak for you.
You might want an advocate to help you. They are trained to help people speak up. They are not employed by the Council.
We can arrange this for you, please contact us to let us know you would like this to happen
If you need help making your complaint, we can provide support. Please contact us for details.
You can contact us by phone: 0300 1234 105
Or by email: enquiries@scilly.gov.uk
Or in writing: Complaints Manager, Council of the Isles of Scilly, Town Hall, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, TR21 0LW
When we get your complaint, our Complaints Manager will write to you within 2 days to let you know we have your complaint.
We will talk with you and see if we can sort it out for you that way.
We will always put in writing what we have talked about, and check that you are happy with the outcome.
If that isn’t right for you, or if you’re not happy with that, we can get a manager to look into it.
Formal route: (Stage 1):
They will write to you to tell you what they have found out within 10 days. They may need to talk to you to find out more about your complaint.
They might need a bit more time to look into the complaint. If they do, they will let you know. They then have up to 10 more days before they contact you again.
If you have an advocate helping you, these times start once we have heard from them.
We will always put in writing what we have found out. We will check with you if that has sorted your complaint out for you.
If this doesn’t sort out your complaint for you, let us know within 20 days. In that case, it will go to the next stage of inquiry:
Formal route (Stage 2):
We will get an independent person to look further into your complaint. They will contact you to see what you are still unhappy with, and what you are looking for or wanting to happen. They will put that in writing and check you agree.
The Independent Person will make a report with a senior manager from Adult Care. This report is Called the Independent Review. They report to the Director of Adult Social Services or another representative. This usually takes 25 to 65 days.
The Local Government Ombudsman
Complainants may contact the Local Government Ombudsman at any stage of their complaint. However, the Ombudsman will usually recommend the complaint is initially pursued via the Local Authority’s Complaints Procedure (Stages 1 & 2).
Contact details: Local Government Ombudsman PO Box 4771 Coventry CV4 0EH
Phone: 0300 061 0614 Fax: 024 7682 0001
Complainants who wish to make an electronic complaint can visit the LGO website and use their online form www.lgo.org.uk/making-a-complaint
What is advocacy?
Independent advocacy services are there to help you resolve issues or concerns that you may have about your health and wellbeing, or your health and social care services.
Advocacy supports people to explore their choices and options and access information and services. It can help people to express their views, wishes and concerns so they can be genuinely considered when decisions are being made by others about their lives. Ultimately, advocacy supports people to have their voice heard on issues that are important to them.
Isles of Scilly Advocacy is the primary contact for advocacy services for adults on the Isles of Scilly. They are able to help:
- People who need support to make a complaint about their NHS care or treatment.
- People detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 or subject to recall to hospital.
- People referred by Social Services under the Care Act 2014 to facilitate care and support assessment, planning and review and safeguarding.
- People who lack mental capacity referred by Social Services or the NHS to support decision making around changes of accommodation, serious medical treatment or deprivation of liberty.
Isles of Scilly Advocacy is led by seAp Advocacy in partnership with Healthwatch Isles of Scilly, Age UK Cornwall & Isles of Scilly and Royal Association for Deaf people.
To get in touch, make a referral or for further information, visit the Isles of Scilly Advocacy website.
Healthwatch
Healthwatch Isles of Scilly is one of the 4 partners that together are Isles of Scilly Advocacy.
Healthwatch can provide Independent Health Complaints Advocacy to individuals who are considering a complaint about an NHS service.
They are keen to hear all your observations on health and social care. Their core function is to represent your views and needs to the people who plan and provide health and care services.
Healthwatch will:
- Identify, from feedback, issues which need addressing and work with services towards improvement.
- Set up or take part in joint working groups, committees and regular liaison with services to make sure your views are represented.
- Provide information about service provision, change and development.
- Provide a ‘signposting’ service to sources of help, information and advice.
- Provide health complaints support and signpost to other advocacy services.
Healthwatch will not:
- Act on hearsay.
- Pass on any information which could identify you.
- Intervene or take up individual cases on your behalf - but we know someone who can.
The contact details for Healthwatch are:
contact@healthwatchislesofscilly.co.uk
01720 423037