Issue - meetings

Report attached.

The Committee received the Adult Social Care Annual Complaints Report 2015/16 which outlined the complaints, enquiries, compliments and Members correspondence received during the period April 2015 – March 2016.

Adult Social Care Annual Complaints fell within the remit of ‘The Local Authority Social Services and national Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations with a requirement to publish the Annual Report.

Adult Social Care had experienced increased demand with 3707 clients coming in to the service in 2015/16. This had been reflected in the number of formal complaints which had increased by 17%. Informal complaints, mainly involving external provider agencies i.e. home care and residential/nursing homes, had decreased by 18%.

The committee sought clarification as to the number of clients last year and what the percentage increase was this year.

For other areas of complaint i.e. ‘level of service’ and ‘dispute decision’ officers had supplied an explanation. The challenge for the service was to ensure that expectations were managed properly.

The Committee:

1.    Noted the content of the report and the continued work in resolving and learning from complaints and the future challenges faced by the service;

2.    Noted the actions identified to improve the service and the continued monitoring to ensure actions were implemented to evidence service improvements; and

3.    Noted the positive feedback to services by way of compliments received,

The Sub-Committee are asked to note the Adult Social Care Complaints and Compliments Report.

The Sub-Committee considered the Adult Social Care Annual Complaints Report 2015/16.  It noted that the external home care complaints had remained high, although this had dropped by 6% in 2015/16 compared to 2014/15.  This was a continuing trend.

The “Level of service” and “dispute decision” was the main reason for the complaints in 2015/16, and this showed an increase of 21% and 16% respectively.  Complaints relating to charges had been a continuing trend and were also linked to the level of service provided and the incorrect information being given.  Behaviour/ attitude of staff which had increased by 53% from 2014/15 was also high, however these related to the actions/ decisions of the social worker, rather than the behaviours, for example, lack of communication with the family or incorrect information being given.

The Sub-Committee noted that there were more complaints, however this was attributed to users knowing how to complain.  Officers stated that more complaints were coming through the “front door” which could be address quicker. 

Compliments had decreased overall in 2015/16 by 32% compared to 2014/15.  Although within JAD and Learning Disabilities teams there had been an increase, with some of the new external provider agencies receiving compliments.

Officers explained that complaints continued to play an important role in providing management with useful information to help shape the service. It was noted that complaints were continuing a trend of complexity and therefore response times had suffered as a result.  This was being address and the team would be re-configures in early 2017.  Regular meeting with the Head of Services were held to identify any issues.

Discussion were had by the Sub-Committee regarding complaints about care homes in the borough, it was agreed that this would be raised with Healthwatch Havering and if necessary the CQC.