Agenda item

Report of the Director of Adults and Housing

The Cabinet Member for Adults Services considered a report of the Director of Adults and Housing which indicated that Adult Services have a statutory duty arising from the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009, to provide a system for receiving complaints and representations from people who use its services, or those acting on behalf of service users. There is also a duty under the regulations to produce and publish an annual report.

The report set out the details of the complaints and representations across Coventry’s Adult Services in 2023/24. It highlighted the service improvements and learning from feedback and includes information on future developments in complaint handling and reporting.

The report indicated that here were 59 statutory complaints made within the year 2023/24, compared to 66 in 2022/23. 29 (49%) of these complaints were fully or partially upheld, compared to 30 (45%) in 2022/23. In addition to formal complaints a number of concerns are raised informally. Most informal complaints are received by social care providers directly who act upon feedback received but occasionally complaints received by the Council are dealt with on an informal basis where appropriate. In 2023/24 8 informal complaints were received compared to 14 in 2022/23. These are complaints resolved/handled at the point of delivery. In line with our complaints policy and best practice, most concerns are dealt with on an informal basis, for example by social care providers, and may not be reflected in the figures in this report.

In 2023/24, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSO) considered 10 complaints or enquiries regarding Adult Social Care, of which 2 were investigated and upheld. This compared to 7 complaints or enquiries with 3 upheld in 2022/23.

Adult social care services are committed to learning from customer feedback. Where complaints highlight where matters have gone wrong, managers must identify any remedial and developmental action required to improve service delivery. Feedback from compliments provides an equally valuable message; clearly affirming when services make a difference, and personal qualities have added value to the outcome for users and carers. Learning point examples are as follows:

·  Adult Social Care is as keen to learn from what works well as we do from what goes wrong. We continue to collate the compliments as well as complaints and look at themes, learning and where good practice exists, we share this via our internal Let’s Talk meetings and briefings with colleagues across the services as well as with individuals on a one-to-one basis.

·  In addition to this, an internal centralized database has been developed to capture our practice learning and areas of improvement and we hold quarterly meetings to review all our learning from quality and experience.

·  Management oversight of complaints into the service is now embedded, with regular meetings with the Adults Principal Social Worker and regular updates from colleagues in the Customer Relations Team into the Adult Social Care Management Team enabling greater oversight of how the process is managed and any delays.

·  The Commissioning Team have developed protocols and processes for the quality management of contracted services.

·  All concerns in relation to communication, especially where this can improve, are taken seriously and dealt with at an individual level to ensure all workers uphold professionalism and reflect on their actions to ensure reflections and learning from complaints informs future practice.

·  Prior to a full quality assurance visit being carried out Contracts Officers and Clinical Support Nurses review the previous six months concerns and complaints to identify any trends in order to focus their quality visit and focus our support around the trend identified.

While there are no externally prescribed timescales for the resolution of complaints, the Council’s internal guideline is to resolve complaints within 20 working days. Performance on this standard is monitored by the Adult Social Care Management Team. It is normal practice to inform complainants should an extension be required. Most often, extensions are sought due to the complexity of particular complaints, including where the complainant supplies additional information/evidence part way through an investigation. In 2023/24, 27% of complaints (27 of 59) were resolved within 20 working days, compared to 2022/23, 65% (43 of 66) a year ago.

Appendix I sets out the trends in complaints and representations across Coventry’s Adult Services in 2023/24. It highlights the service improvements and learning from feedback and includes information on future developments in complaint handling and reporting. Key issues for 2023/24 include: communication between adult services and service users, decisions, delays/waiting time for assessment decisions and, managing service users’ expectations. Appendix II sets out the Council’s complaints handling guidance.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for Adult Services approves the publication of the Council’s Annual Report in relation to complaints and representations in Adult Social Care for 2023/24.