We recently launched our Annual Review of Adult Social Care. It looks at all the complaints we received in 2021-22, for both council and independently provided services.

We upheld 70 per cent of the cases we investigated. This is higher than the 66% average uphold rate for all areas we investigate.

We received 2,596 complaints and enquiries about adult social care. This, however, is 16 per cent fewer than the last comparable year before the pandemic.

We also saw a reduction in the number of complaints from people who arranged and funded their own care. We received 340 complaints from this group, which is just 13% of the total and, significantly, represents a 21 per cent drop.

The report also highlighted the unusually high number of four adverse findings notices we were forced to issue about providers who chose to ignore or fail to agree to our recommendations when we found fault.

Our Ombudsman, Michael King said:

"I’m concerned that more than a decade of rising demand and unmet need have left service users and their families, disillusioned and feeling there is no point in making a complaint.

“I want people to know that their voice matters. What can at first appear a simple error affecting a single person can trigger a change in practice benefitting many others. We can and do use our powers to achieve the maximum impact from our investigations – indeed despite the fall in complaint numbers, we have made more recommendations to improve services than ever before.”

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We often talk about how just one complaint can make a huge difference to the lives of other people, but what do we really mean by that?

Earlier in the year, we issued a report into services provided to a young woman in Sheffield who had visual impairments and epilepsy. We found the council, and the care worker it provided, had let the woman down and because of this she had been out of education for a significant period.

The council readily acknowledged the problems faced by the young woman and used our investigation to reflect on its service to make major changes to the way it works. It has recruited extra staff to help young adults in the city develop their independence and has also created a new team to work with teenagers preparing for adulthood. It has also pledged to do more to work with people who have reached 25 and may need more support.

We hope the changes the council is implementing will help ensure other vulnerable young people in the city will feel properly supported in future.

Read the original report

We've issued guidance to council officers who deal with the often-complex issue of deciding whether people have knowingly given away money or assets to avoid paying their care fees.

These assessments are called 'Deprivation of Capital' decisions, and the guidance we have created is aimed at financial assessment officers who make these decisions when working out how much someone needs to pay for their care.

The guidance uses examples from real cases we have investigated to highlight the common issues we see occurring and offers advice on how to make fair and informed decisions.

Read the guidance