Agenda item

The Committee will receive the Annual Complaints Report and an update on the Adult Social Care Complaints Procedure.

The Committee received the Adult Social Care Complaints Procedure and Annual Report.  There had been some procedural changes to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) duty, as the LGO powers had been extended to investigate self-funder complaints in domiciliary care agencies and residential/nursing homes.

Officers explained that sometimes safeguarding and complaints overlapped, and therefore a draft protocol had been produced but required input from both Health and the Police.  Once finalised the protocol would be included as an appendix to the procedures.

The Committee noted that when enquiries were passed to the Ombudsman they were generally referred back to the Local Authority where possible so that the issues could be resolved locally. Of three cases that had not been completed not premature, two had been discontinued where the Ombudsman had found that the local authority had acted appropriately and the other found no maladministration after investigation.  The outcome of the ongoing investigation was recently received where injustice was remedied with a settlement of £1,500.

The Committee noted that the total number of complaints had gone down over the last 4 years; however there were more informal complaints, which were resolved much quicker. Concerns were raised about the number of complaints received for Reablement.  This was partly a result of the recent changes and challenges that the service had been subject to.  Due to a restructuring, this had had an impact on staff, which in turn had a detrimental affect on the service.

A member raised concerns that the Learning Disabilities Team had a 50% increase in complaints.  Officers explained that there had been a change in provision, and people do not like change this resulted in a number of complaints.  Members asked if this was an impact of the closure of one of the day opportunities that the Committee had scrutinised. Officers explained that this was not the case.

Officers explained complaints about residential nursing homes, involving respite placements which may lead to a safeguarding investigation. It may be concluded that there should be reimbursement.  In one case the home were asked to pay back the cost to the client as the respite care was not up to standard. The majority of complaints in this and domiciliary care were due to quality of service and the attitude of staff.  It was however found that this was in terms of the expectations of the family as to the actual provision of care. Staff had been advised to make clear exactly what is in the care plan so there is a clear expectation of what service would be provided.

Members asked if cleaning was included in a care plan.  Officers stated that this was not normally included, however there was some flexibility in how direct payments could be used, and therefore the client could use this to pay a member of their family to clean for them.  Officers explained that in particular circumstances, due to neglect, a cleaning agency could be sent in.

The Committee discussed the response times and noted that the response within 10 days and 10 to 20 days figures had dropped from last year. There had however been an increase in responses over 20+ days. These did however related to more complex complaints.

Members noted how complainants were contacting the service.  There was an increase in letters and a decrease in email; this was attributed to the age profile of the borough.  They also noted that there had been 56 compliments made, which equated to about half of the complaints figure.

Members asked if complaints and compliments were address to the correct person, or if they were passed around.  Officers explained that most are sent direct to the Head of Service which were then sent to the complaints team, however not all staff had access to CRM which was where all correspondence was logged.  The Committee asked if a list of who does what in Adult Social Care could be provided to the Committee.

Officers explained that all correspondence is logged as often complainants write in themselves, but may also write to their local councillor or MP, who also contact the service on the complainant’s behalf, but for the same issue.

The Committee considered the Complaints Action Plan.  Officers explained the action being taken for each of the issues identified, and informed the Committee that the action plan is reviewed regularly with the operational management group.

The Committee thanked officers for a very informative report.