Complaining to Adult Services

If you are not happy with the service that you receive from Community Health and Social Care Direct, or if you feel that something has gone wrong, the council needs to know. Your feedback helps them to assess and improve the services they provide.


How to Make a Complaint

If you feel that you need to make a complaint, the first thing you should do is contact Community Health & Social Care Direct.

Normally, they will try to sort out the problem straightaway if they can, without you needing to do anything else. If this is not possible, they will begin a complaints process.

Contact [email protected]


The Social Services Statutory Complaints Procedure

Most complaints made to Adult Services are governed by the ‘Social Services Statutory Complaints Procedure’. This is different to the City Council’s own corporate complaints procedure, which they use to deal with any other complaints they receive.

You will always be told which complaints procedure is being used and what you can expect from it.

Examples of statutory complaints to Adult Services are:

  • a service not being delivered on time
  • receiving a poor-quality service
  • problems with staff attitudes or behaviour
  • problems with your assessment, care plan or the review of your services
  • decisions that you don’t agree with
  • the level of service provided or how often you receive it
  • the cost of your services
  • changes to your services or care plan

All complaints are kept confidential and are only communicated to other staff on a need-to-know basis, for example, in order to further investigate your complaint.


Making a Complaint

You can complain by email, telephone, letter or by filling out and returning the complaints form on the Adult Services website.

After receiving your complaint, the team will send you a letter explaining what will happen next.


Is there anyone else who can help?

If you are not comfortable making the complaint yourself, you can ask a friend or relative to contact Adult Services for you.

You may also prefer to ask an independent person or organisation for advice, or ask them to act on your behalf, such as:

The Local Government Ombudsman looks at complaints about councils and other authorities. It is a free service. Their job is to investigate complaints in a fair and independent way. If you have a problem with a council service, you should first complain to the council. But if you are still not satisfied, you can make a complaint on their website, by phone or post.

Last updated: December 21, 2023