The Scottish Government

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Part 6: Raising concerns and making a complaint

• raising concerns and making a complaint

What if I am unhappy, or a relative or friend is unhappy with the way I am being treated or with the services I am receiving?

You, or your relatives or friends, have the right to raise your concerns or make a formal complaint if you (or they) are unhappy with:

• the services or assistance from the social work service;
• the services or assistance in a care home; or
• the way in which the amount you are asked to contribute is calculated.

There is no stigma attached to complaining and you will not be treated differently because you have complained.

If you have a concern about the assessment, or other service that you are receiving from the social work service, you should discuss the matter in the first instance with your social worker. If you are not satisfied, you should speak to your social worker's local manager. If you are still not satisfied, you should use the complaints procedure established by your social work service.

If you are living in a care home or nursing home and have a complaint or concern about the service you are receiving, you should discuss this in the first instance with your named worker or the senior staff of the home. If you feel that you may have difficulty in making your complaint directly to the home's staff, you could discuss the matter with your social worker if you have one.

The National Care Standards set out what to do if you want to raise concerns or make a complaint. All care service providers are required to set up a complaints procedure. Your complaint must be investigated and the service provider must tell you within 28 days of the action (if any) that will be taken. You can also make complaints directly to the Care Commission.

You can make a complaint to the Care Commission by phone, by letter or in person. Details of how to contact the Care Commission can be found in Part 2 of this booklet.

The National Care Standards also say that an independent and confidential advocacy service can act for you if you wish. An independent advocate is a person who is independent of both the care home and the social work service, who acts on your behalf if you feel unable to represent yourself.

If you are a relative or friend of a person in a care home and you have concerns about the quality of services being provided, you can also raise your concerns with the home, with the social work service and with the Care Commission. You have the same access to the complaints procedure as the person receiving the care services.

Local authority complaints procedure

Each local authority has a legal responsibility to provide a complaints procedure. You can make a complaint by phone, by letter or in person. The social work service provides information about the complaints procedure and must provide any help that you need in explaining your complaint to the local authority. The social work service must investigate all complaints.

Where a dispute arises between a resident and the social work service, every attempt should be made to resolve the problem at a local level. If the dispute is still not resolved following an investigation by specially designated social work service staff, you can ask for the formal Complaints Review Committee to consider the matter. If, having taken your complaint to the Committee, you are still not satisfied with the outcome, you can refer the matter to the Public Services Ombudsman and, ultimately, to the courts.

NHS Complaints Procedure

Patients or their relatives, carers or advocates can appeal a clinician's decision to discharge them from hospital through the Director of Public Health. Details of how to do this should be available from hospital staff. Individuals can also use the NHS complaints procedure or refer their case to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. Fuller details should be available in locally published complaints procedures. Patients with mental illness (including those with dementia) can also have their cases brought before the

(Tel: 0131-222 6111).

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