Policy Statement

This organisation policy is intended to comply with Regulation 16 of the New Fundamental Standard Regulations.

This organisation accepts the rights of service users to make complaints and to register comments and concerns about the services received. It further accepts that they should find it easy to do so. It welcomes complaints, seeing them as opportunities to learn, adapt, improve and provide better service.

The Policy

This policy is intended to ensure that complaints are dealt with properly and that all complaints or comments by service users and their relatives, carers and advocates are taken seriously. It is not designed to apportion blame, to consider the possibility of negligence or to provide compensation; it is not part of the company’s disciplinary policy. This organisation believes that failure to listen to or acknowledge complaints leads to an aggravation of problems, service user dissatisfaction and possible litigation. The organisation supports the idea that most complaints if dealt with early, openly and honestly can be sorted at a local level between just the complainant and the organisation. A summary of this policy and procedure is published in the Service User Care Plan and the full document is available on our website.

Aim of the Complaints Procedure

We aim to ensure that the complaints procedure is properly and effectively implemented, and that service users feel confident that their complaints and worries are listened to and acted upon promptly and fairly.

Specifically we aim to ensure that:

  • Service users, carers and their representatives are aware of how to complain and that the company provides easy to use opportunities for them to register their complaints
  • A named person will be responsible for the administration of the procedure
  • Every written complaint is acknowledged within 5 working days
  • All complaints are investigated within 14 days of being made
  • All complaints are responded to in writing within 28 days of being made
  • Complaints are dealt with promptly, fairly and sensitively, with due regard to the upset and worry that they can cause to both service users and staff

Vexatious Complainers

This organisation takes seriously any comments or complaints regarding its service.  However, there are times when the Company are will be unable to meet the outcome of the complainant and issues will never be resolved.  Vexatious complainers will be be dealt with by the arbitration service, so that the repeated investigations become less of a burden on the organisation, its staff and other service users.

 Local Government Ombudsman (LGO)

Since October 2010 the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) can consider complaints from people who arrange or fund their own adult social care.  This is in addition to complaints about care arranged and funded by local authorities, which the LGO has dealt with for more than 35 years.

The LGO’s new role includes those who “self-fund” from their own resources or have a personalised budget.  It will ensure that everyone has access to the same independent ombudsman service, regardless of how the care service is funded.  In most cases they will only consider a complaint once the care provider has been given reasonable opportunity to deal with the situation.  It is a free service.  Their job is to investigate complaints in a fair and independent way; they are not biased and do not champion complaints; they are independent of politicians, local authorities, government department, advocacy and campaigning groups, the care industry, and the CQC;  they are not a regulator and do not inspect care providers.

The LGO is fully independent of the CQC.  They deal with individual injustices that people have suffered and the CQC will refer all such complaints to them.  The CQC deals with complaints about registered services as a whole and does not consider individual matters.  They can share information with the CQC but only when deemed appropriate.  The CQC will redirect individual complaints to the LGO, and the LGO will inform CQC about outcomes that point to regulatory failures.

Compliments

On a more positive note please also log all compliments received as it is important to learn from what works well too, and is equally important for staff and others to have the formal recognition of a job well done.

We like to celebrate our compliments so we are likely to publish any letters or comments on our website site or social media outlets (anonymised to ensure data protection requirements are not breached)