Adult social care - comments, compliments and complaints - Print version

You have the right to receive a good level of service and we want you to get the best possible support from us. Listening to your views helps us to put things right and improve our services for the future, so your comments, compliments, complaints and suggestions are important and always welcome. This page gives you advice on how to go about telling us what you think.

If you are unhappy about the care you have received then you should first discuss your concerns with the person or organisation that delivers your care. If you are still unhappy, or wish to share your views with the local authority, you can do this by contacting the Council [/info/5/contact_the_council/545/comments_compliments_and_complaints]. If you need help to do this then you can ask a friend or family member to help, or talk to one of our information and advice services in Coventry.

We have to follow a legal process when investigating a complaint about adult social care. These pages explain what that process is, and what you can do if you don’t think we’ve done all we can to help.

You can also download and print our Listen to me leaflet [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/28045/listen_to_me_leaflet] for a quick guide to complaints, compliments and comments procedure.

Things you may want to complain about

You can complain to us about anything you want to and we will always consider your views.  In some circumstances, however, we may not be able to investigate your complaint, for example if you are complaining about something that happened more than twelve months ago.

These are some of the things you may want to complain about:

• If we do not deliver a service on time
• If you receive a poor quality service
• The attitude or behaviour of our employees
• Your assessment, care plan or the review of your services
• Decisions you do not agree with
• The level of service we provide, the cost of it, or how often you receive it
• Changes to your service or care plan
• The effect of our policies on you and your services or
• How our assessment and eligibility criteria affect you and your services

How can I make a complaint?

 You can:

• write to the Adult Social Care Complaints Officer
• phone the Adult Social Care Complaints Officer
• e-mail the Adult Social Care Complaints Officer
• talk to an advocate who will help you make your complaint [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/78/care_and_support/2127/information_advice_and_advocacy_support/5].
• fill in our online complaints form [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/form_speakup]

What happens after you make a complaint?

Your complaint will be sent to the People Directorate Complaints Officer, who will then read it and decide what to do with it.  The complaints officer will then write to you, and if there is to be an investigation into your complaint he will tell you who is investigating and how to contact them. The complaints officer will also let you know roughly how long he expects the investigation to take.

What happens after your complaint is investigated?

After your complaint is investigated, the person in charge of the investigation will write to you, explaining what they did to investigate your complaint and their findings.

If you’re still not happy

The investigator will put at the bottom of the letter what the next steps are if you are unhappy with your complaint. Usually this will be to contact the Local Government Ombudsman.

How well do we handle Adult Social Care Complaints?

Each year the council publishes a report about Adult Social Care Complaints [/downloads/download/781/adult_social_care_complaints_and_representations].