THE SOCIAL SERVICES COMPLAINTS AND REPRESENTATIONS PROCEDURE. A Guide For Service Users, Their Families and Carers

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1 THE SOCIAL SERVICES COMPLAINTS AND REPRESENTATIONS PROCEDURE A Guide For Service Users, Their Families and Carers This procedure is based in accordance with: The Social Services Complaints Procedure (Wales) Regulations 2014, and The Representations Procedure (Wales) Regulations This procedure takes effect from 1 August

2 Summary Everyone who makes a complaint about Flintshire Social Services has the right to be listened to properly and have their concerns resolved quickly, fairly and effectively. We will deal with your concerns in an open and honest way. The Complaints Procedure promotes this belief and uses complaints to learn from experience with a view to minimising similar problems and improving services for everyone who uses them. We aim to clearly explain any issues which you are not sure about. We will aim to provide any service to which you are entitled where we have failed to do so previously without good reason. We will apologise if we get something wrong, and where possible try to put things right. We also aim to learn from our mistakes and use the information we gain to improve our services. Our Commitment We aim to provide high quality services to eligible residents. However, there may be occasions when people using or wanting to use our services will want to make comments or complaints about the service they receive. When you express your concerns or complain to us, we will respond in the way described below. We will make sure that your dealings with us in the future do not suffer just because you have expressed a concern or made a complaint. What Is A Complaint? There is no definitive description of a complaint, but broadly a complaint is: An expression of dissatisfaction or concern. Either written or spoken or made by any other communication method. Made by one or more members of the public. About a public service provider s action or lack of action. About the standard of service provided. A complaint is not: An initial request for a service. A formal review or appeal against a decision or determination, the procedure for which is set out in legislation or regulations. A means to seek change to legislation or a properly made policy decision. A means for lobbying groups/organisations to seek to promote a cause. 2

3 We will only look at your concerns if you tell us about them within 12 months of the issues occurring. This is because it s better to look into your concerns while the issues are still fresh in everyone s mind. In exceptional circumstances we may be able to look at concerns which are brought to our attention later than this. However, you will have to give us strong reasons why you have been unable to bring it to our attention earlier and we will need to have sufficient information about the issue to allow us to consider it properly. Who Is Entitled To Complain? The Complaints Procedure applies to both adults and children. You may be eligible to make a complaint about Social Services if: You have received (or were entitled to receive) a service from Social Services. You have suffered due to the inappropriate actions of Social Services. In the case of complaints about Children s Social Services, we will look into if: You are either being looked after by Social Services, or are not being looked after by them but are a child in need. You are a parent of such a child. You are not a parent but you have parental responsibility for such a child. You are a foster carer or adoptive parent. The council considers you have a sufficient interest in a child s welfare You are a care leaver. We will assess all cases where an individual claims to have sufficient interest in a child s welfare. We will make a decision as quickly as possible. If we don t believe you have sufficient interest, we will notify you in writing with the reasons why. If the matter you raise warrants further attention, we may look into it further but you will not receive a formal response with the outcome. Help With Making A Complaint The choice of using an Advocate will be promoted with you when you first use the complaints procedure. The range of advocacy providers in Flintshire are also listed in the complaints information leaflets. If you intend making a complaint on behalf of another person, we will require confirmation of their agreement to you acting on their behalf. We will quickly make the necessary arrangements if you want to make your complaint in Welsh. 3

4 Ways Of Complaining You can express your concerns in any of the ways below. You do not have to put your complaint in writing. You can: Speak with staff who are working with you such as your Social Worker. Get in touch with the Complaints Officer on or if you want to make your complaint over the telephone. Use the form on our website at us at: Write a letter to us at the following address: The Complaints Officer Social Services Department County Hall Mold Flintshire CH7 6ND The Complaints Procedure Stage 1 Local Resolution If possible, we believe it s best to deal with any issue straight away rather than try to sort the problem out later. If you have a concern, raise it with the person you are dealing with (e.g. your Social Worker). They will try to resolve it for you there and then. If we are unable to resolve your complaint immediately or by the end of the next working day, we will acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days and we will tell you the name of the Manager we have asked to look into your complaint. You will be offered the opportunity to meet with them in person or, if you prefer, to discuss the matter over the telephone. After this discussion, we will write to confirm the outcome within 5 working days. If it is not possible to provide you with a response within this timescale, we will contact you to discuss the reason for the delay and when you can expect a response. Occasionally, we might suggest mediation or another method to try to resolve disputes. It is hoped that all concerns can be resolved by Social Services without a need for further action. 4

5 Stage 2 - Formal Investigation If your complaint has been considered at the first stage of the complaints procedure and you remain unhappy with the outcome, you may ask for the complaint to be investigated by a person who is independent of the Council. You also have the right to ask for a complaint to be considered at this stage from the outset, though we believe the quickest and most effective way to deal with complaints is at Stage 1. We will either meet with you in person or discuss your request over the telephone within 5 working days of your request. We will need to record and agree with you any issues you remain unhappy about and the outcomes you are seeking. If we don t agree to a Formal Investigation, we will explain the reasons why and advise you how to take the matter further instead with the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. If we agree to a Formal Investigation, we will ask someone from outside the Council to conduct the investigation. This person is referred to as an Independent Investigator and they will begin their investigation as quickly as possible. If you are a child or young person, an Independent Person is also appointed to take part in the investigation and any discussion about what action we should take. The Independent Person s role is to oversee the handling of the complaint and make sure everyone has the opportunity to give their view. The Independent Person is also not a Council employee. The Independent Investigator (and Independent Person if you are a child/young person) will meet with you in order that you can give a more detailed background of events leading up to your complaint. They will also read relevant case records we hold before interviewing staff involved in your complaint. Their investigation should take 20 working days after which they will produce a report into their findings. We will consider the report s findings and recommendations and formally write to you about what we are going to do. You will also receive a copy of the report. If the investigation finds that we got it wrong, we will tell you what errors were made and how it happened. If we find there is a fault in our systems or the way we do things, we will tell you what it is and how we plan to change things to stop it happening again. If we got it wrong, we will always apologise. If we didn t provide a service you should have had, we will aim to provide it if that s possible. If we didn t do something well, we will aim to put it right. If you have lost out as a result of a mistake on our part we will try to put you back in the position you would have been in if we had got it right. 5

6 Complaints about Registered (Privately Run) Service Providers If you have a complaint about a Registered Provider (such as a privately run care home or a domiciliary care agency), you can either: Approach the Provider directly yourself with your concerns, or Contact the Complaints Officer who can take the matter forward on your behalf. Similar to what happens with complaints at Stage 1 about Social Services, the Provider s Manager will look into your concerns and respond formally in writing. The Complaints Officer will also receive a copy of their reply. All complaints about Registered Providers and their outcomes are recorded and may be used to inform how we monitor the contract we have with the Provider and judge their performance. Lessons Learned We take your concerns and complaints seriously and try to learn from any mistakes we have made. Every three months, our senior management team considers all the complaints made in the period and their outcomes. Every complaint made, whether at Stage 1 or 2, is reviewed to see if anything could have been done better to improve our services as a whole Concurrent Investigations In some cases, where other investigations may be in progress or under consideration (e.g. court matters or other legal proceedings, and child protection or police investigations), your complaint may be put on hold until such other investigations are completed. Should this occur we will notify you in writing and invite you to re-submit your complaint when those other matters are concluded. Public Services Ombudsman for Wales If you remain dissatisfied with the outcomes at Stage 2, or with the investigation itself, you have the right to approach the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales to consider your complaint. They can be contacted at: Public Services Ombudsman for Wales 1 Ffordd yr Hen Gae Pencoed CF35 5LJ Telephone: