Make a complaint about social care

Please read the information below if you would like to make a complaint about adults social care or children's social care. Details of how to submit your complaint are at the bottom of the page.

Adult social care

There is a statutory complaints procedure that is specifically for certain complaints that are about adults social care. The legislation that sets out how we are expected to handle these types of complaints is called The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) 2009. This legislation applies to local authorities, NHS bodies, primary care providers and independent sector providers who are responsible for providing NHS and social care. We work in conjunction with the Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to ensure that the statutory complaints procedure is supported by a jointly agreed complaints process.

There are two stages to the adults statutory complaints procedure:

Stage 1 - local or commissioned investigation.
Referral to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

When a complaint is received about adults social care the complaints team will carry out a number of steps:

Conduct an initial assessment of the issues raised in the complaint to make sure that they can be addressed under this statutory procedure and to check that the eligibility criteria has been met.
Identify what complaints need to be investigated and record these in an Investigation Plan.
Allocate the complaint for investigation to an appropriate officer, normally this will be the manager of the service that the complaint is about.
Provide written confirmation to you to advise that your complaint will be addressed under the statutory procedure and advise who will be investigating and providing the written response to the complaint.

If we are unable to address your complaint under the adults statutory complaints procedure then we will inform you of this. If necessary we will provide you with further advice, allocate to an alternative procedure or signpost you to the the most appropriate organisation.

Once your complaint has been investigated, you will receive a written response to advise how your complaint has been considered, the findings of the investigation and any action needed to resolve your concerns.

If your complaint has been through all stages of our complaints procedure and you are still unhappy, you can ask the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to review your complaint.

The Ombudsman investigates complaints in a fair and independent way - it does not take sides. It is a free service.

The Ombudsman expects you to have given us chance to deal with your complaint, before you contact them. If you have not heard from us within a reasonable time, it may decide to look into your complaint anyway. This is usually up to 12 weeks but can be longer for social care complaints that follow a statutory process. Contact details for the Ombudsman are below.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

Telephone: 0300 061 0614

Text 'call back' to 07624 811595

Opening hours Monday to Friday: 9am to 12noon (except public holidays)

Children's social care

There is a statutory complaints procedure that is specifically for certain complaints about children's social care. The legislation that sets out how we are expected to handle these types of complaints is called The Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) 2006.

There is a criteria that must be met before a complaint can be investigated under this procedure. On receipt of a complaint, the complaints team will carry out a detailed assessment of the complaint that has been made to make sure that it is eligible. If we are unable to address your complaint under the children's social care statutory complaints procedure then we will inform you of this. If necessary we will provide you with further advice, allocate to an alternative procedure or signpost you to the the most appropriate organisation.

There are three stages to the children's social care statutory complaints procedure:

Stage 1 - Local Resolution

This where the complaint is dealt with at the point of service delivery by the responsible team manager. A maximum of 20 working days is allowed for the response to be provided to your complaint. Once your complaint has been investigated, you will receive a written response to advise how your complaint has been considered, the findings of the investigation and any action needed to resolve your concerns.

The 20 working day timescale begins on the date when your complaint is accepted into the children's social care statutory complaints procedure and formal confirmation of this in writing has been sent to you.

The section below advises what you should do if you are unhappy with the response you receive to your complaint.

Stage 2 - Independent Investigation

If you are unhappy with the response you have received to your complaint you can request that your complaint is further considered under Stage 2. You will need to make your request within 20 working days from the date of the Stage 1 response letter and information how you can do this will be provided in the Stage 1 response letter. If a Stage 2 investigation is to be carried out we will write to you to confirm this. An external Investigating Officer (IO) will be commissioned to carry out the investigation and an Independent Person (IP) will work alongside the IO to ensure an independent and objective view throughout. There is a maximum of 65 working days for this stage to be completed.

At the end of the investigation the IO and the IP will each produce a report. The IO report will detail how the investigation considered your complaints. The report from the IO will also include the findings in relation to your complaint and details of any recommendations that have arisen from the investigation. You will also receive a response from a senior manager which will detail the council's response to the investigation into your complaint.

The section below advises what you should do if you are unhappy with the response you receive at Stage 2.

Stage 3 - Complaint Review Panel

You can request that the matter is further considered at a Complaint Review Panel if you are unhappy with the outcome of the Stage 2 investigation. Information on how you can do this will be provided in the Stage 1 response letter. If a request for a Complaint Review Panel is accepted then we will commission an Independent Chair and two Independent Panel Members to review the adequacy of the Stage 2 Investigation. You will also be able to attend the panel. Further details of the Complaints Review Panel process will be provided by the Complaints Team.

The Complaints Review Panel will produce a report which will be sent to you. The council will also send you its response to the panels report. This is the final stage in the children's social care statutory complaints procedure.

If your complaint has been through all stages of our complaints procedure and you are still unhappy, you can ask the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to review your complaint.

The Ombudsman investigates complaints in a fair and independent way - it does not take sides. It is a free service.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

Telephone: 0300 061 0614

Text 'call back' to 07624 811595

Opening hours Monday to Friday: 9am to 12 noon (except public holidays)