We always feel very redundant at Pathways saying ‘You need to make a formal complaint…’ when people feel that they need their concerns listened to urgently and acted upon immediately when a decision for their loved one seems to be going in an unsatisfactory direction. However sometimes just asking about the complaints procedure is enough to spur the health/social care professionals into action/persuade them to make a different decision (we have found, on occasion).
The complaints procedure for social services should be easy to find on their council website and making a complaint through this channel means that there is a record of the dates/times/concerns that have been raised; the council is duty bound to respond within a certain timescale.
Once a complaint has been formally responded to the complainant has the option to go to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (not before). The Ombudsman’s website records all of the complaints it has dealt with in the past and clearly explains why it upheld certain complaints and not others, which can be helpful but you need to know where to look to find topics that resonate with your own. The Ombudsman also has the power to direct local authorities to compensate complainants where appropriate.
Home – Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
If you are complaining about the NHS then you can use the PALS service:
What is PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service)? – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Again, once your complaint has been responded to there is an Ombudsman service for the NHS:
We can help you formulate a complaint in terms of using the law to support your argument although we do not act as an advocacy service for our client group and cannot attend meetings or reviews.
Contact us if you are thinking of making a complaint and want to know how community care laws/rules/regulations can best serve you:
admin@pathwaysthroughdementia.org
Helpline: 0203 405 5940
