Annual review of adult care complaints launched
We're reiterating our call for all care providers to be required to tell people about our service in our review of the adult care complaints we received in 2023-24.
In the past year we've received a relatively small number of cases about the independent sector. The number of complaints about privately funded and arranged care has dropped by 15%, following a continued trend over the past few years.
Given the sector's proportion of the care market, we would expect this figure to be much higher.
In 2023-24, we received 2,982 complaints about adult care, with just 333 of those being from people who fund their own care.
To bridge the gap between the number of people in receipt of care in the independent sector, and the low volume of complaints, we are calling for signposting to our service to be made mandatory at the end of every provider’s complaint process.
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National Care Forum talk
Our Ombudsman, Amerdeep Somal, spoke at an online event, hosted by the National Care Forum, on the day we launched our review of Adult Social Care Complaints.
This was an important opportunity for us to speak directly to the care sector about our findings and our expectations for good complaint handling. Amerdeep was joined by colleagues from our Investigation teams to share examples of good and bad practice we had found through our investigations.
We received positive feedback from delegates about our work as well as suggestions of how we can work more closely with the sector in future to improve standards of complaint handling and service delivery.
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Model complaint processes and template letters published
We have re-launched our complaint handling resources for independent care providers.
These resources are designed to support good complaint handling in adult social care settings and include:
- A model complaint process
- Template letters
- A signposting guide
- How to write an apology
- Complaint management checklist
We also offer training in effective complaint handling for care providers. You can find out more about this on our website.
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Local government lawyers hear about our new complaint code plans
Earlier this month our External Training & Relationship Lead, Cameron Black, spoke to Lawyers for Local Government about our Complaint Handling Code, which is due to come into effect in 2025.
Lawyers for Local Government is the professional membership body representing, promoting and supporting the interests of local government legal or governance officers working within a local authority. This was an important opportunity for us to talk about the scrutiny and oversight aspects of the new Code for local authorities and our plans to publish a good practice guide for senior officers and locally elected councillors.
The online event was attended by a range of delegates from local authorities across England and we received positive feedback about our plans to provide further guidance to the sector to support good complaint handling.
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