If something is not right, tell us

Start by telling us

Most things are sorted out quickly and informally. If a visit time is not working, if a task is being missed, or if something about a carer’s approach is not right, tell the office and we will look at it straight away.

You can raise a concern in whatever way is easiest for you — a telephone call, an email, a letter, or by telling one of our carers and asking them to pass it on. You do not need to use a form, put it in writing, or call it a complaint.

You can complain on behalf of somebody else — as a relative, a friend, an attorney or an advocate — and we will involve the person receiving the care in a way that respects their wishes and their confidentiality.

What we will do

1. We will acknowledge your complaint, tell you who is dealing with it, and tell you when you can expect a response.
2. We will look into what happened — which usually means speaking to the people involved and reading the records for the period concerned.
3. We will give you our findings, and say clearly whether we think something went wrong.
4. Where something did go wrong, we will apologise, tell you what we are changing, and make sure the change actually happens.
5. We will tell you what you can do if you are not satisfied with our answer.

Complaints are recorded, reviewed and used to improve how we work. The Care Quality Commission looks at what we have received and what we did about it when it assesses us.

Raising a complaint will never affect the care you or your relative receives, and it will never affect how you are treated by our staff. If you ever feel that it has, tell us that too — it is a serious matter and we will treat it as one.

If you are not satisfied with our answer

You do not have to accept our conclusion, and you can take a complaint further. Which route applies depends on how the care is paid for.

If you arrange and pay for your own care

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman can investigate complaints about adult social care that people arrange and fund privately, as well as care arranged by a council. Its service is free and independent. It will normally expect you to have complained to us first.

If your care is arranged or funded by a council

You can complain to the council’s adult social care department as well as to us, and afterwards to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman if you remain dissatisfied.

If your care is funded by the NHS

Complaints about NHS-funded care can be taken to the NHS body that commissioned it, and afterwards to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

Telling the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission is our regulator. It does not investigate individual complaints and cannot get you an outcome or compensation, so it is not an alternative to the routes above.

It does want to hear about poor care, and what it is told shapes how and when it assesses a service. You can tell the CQC about your experience at any time, including while we are still looking into a complaint, and you can do so anonymously.

Share your experience with the Care Quality Commission

Concerns about someone’s safety

If someone is in immediate danger, call 999. Do not wait for a complaint to be looked into.

A worry that an adult is being abused, neglected or harmed is a safeguarding concern rather than a complaint, and it is dealt with differently and more urgently. You can raise it with us, and you can also raise it directly with the adult social care team at the council for the area where the person lives — you do not need our agreement or our involvement to do so.

How we handle safeguarding concerns

Complaints about your personal information

If your complaint is about how we have handled personal information — what we hold, who we shared it with, or a request we did not answer — you can raise it with us in the same way, and you can also go to the Information Commissioner’s Office at any point.

Read our privacy policy