Agenda item

The annual report provides information on the number, type and other information on adult social care complaints received during the period April 2022 - March 2023. It also highlights some examples of the positive things people have said about the provision of adult social care in Medway over the same period and the service improvements Medway Council has made because of lessons learnt from complaints.

Discussion:

Members considered the annual complaints and compliments report which provided information on the number, type and other information on adult social care complaints received during the period April 2022 - March 2023.

The following issues were discussed:

·       Localities and complaints - it was clarified that adult social care worked across three localities. Locality 1, which had received the highest number of complaints, was the area where most providers and the acute trust were located.

·       Total number of people supported – in order to provide context for the number of complaints received, a Member asked what the total number of contacts was for adult social care. The Assistant Director – Adult Social Care replied the service supported about 5,000 people.

·       Communications – noting that poor or a lack of communication was a significant factor in the number of complaints, what was being done to improve communications was queried. The Assistant Director – Adult Social Care advised that staffing was a major factor as a number vacancies in front line social care were filled by locums. She was looking at how this area could be fully resourced and moving to an allocated care model where a social worker worked with a specific person, meaning greater continuity of care which should help to improve communications.

·       Complaints about financial issues – a Member queried whether this related to billing issues or fraud. The Assistant Director – Adult Social Care advised some complaints related to billing and incorrect information where the team had not been informed by providers in a timely manner. A system was being implemented where care providers could upload correct care information as it was provided. Financial assessments could also give rise to complaints.

·       Upheld complaints and financial redress – A Member queried the rationale for how assessment figures were calculated. Members were advised this would depend on the details of an individual case, whether injustice had been caused and the time and trouble taken to make a complaint. If the issue being complained about could not be put right, then a financial remedy would be appropriate.

·       Complaints from ethnic minorities – regarding the number of complaints from ethnic minorities and whether any barriers existed to making complaints, the Assistant Director – Adult Social Care advised the Council was aware the number of people from ethnic minorities supported was lower than it should be, some of which was due to cultural issues. More needed to be done with regard to hard-to-reach groups and to look at whether there were any barriers. Therefore, the number of complaints from this group was lower.

·       Pre-covid complaints figures – regarding the comparison of complaints received by year, whether the pre-covid figures were available was queried. Members were advised this information was available, but not to hand. There had been a steady decrease in the number of complaints in recent years.

·       Timeliness of response – whether the aim of replying to social care complaints within 20 working days was appropriate was queried. Members were advised the Council aimed to respond within 20 working days if that was possible. If a response was going to take longer then the complainant would be told, where there would be valid reasons for that.

·      Private care providers – regarding the costs involved in dealing with complaints relating to private providers, Members were advised the Council had a statutory responsibility to arrange placements, so the costs were met by the Council. However, there had been discussions with private providers to remind them about that mistakes on their part incurred costs for the Council.

Decision:

The Committee agreed to note the report.