Key Question | Key Lines of Enquiry |
| CARING | C2: How does the service support people to express their views and be actively involved in making decisions about their care, support and treatment as far as possible? |
| RESPONSIVE | R2: How are people’s concerns and complaints listened and responded to and used to improve the quality of care? |
| SAFE | S1: How do systems, processes and practices keep people safe and safeguarded from abuse? |
To ensure that all complaints and suggestions are promptly addressed, resolved and shared within the agreed timescales to ensure that lessons are learned and that the learning improves service quality and delivery.
El Marsh Care Ltd – will ensure that the complaints and compliments process at El Marsh Care Ltd – is fair and transparent and does not discriminate directly or indirectly because of the following:
The complainant will feel free to complain without fear of reprisals and will be treated with courtesy, respect and compassion. El Marsh Care Ltd – will ensure that the process of how to make a complaint and the feedback is provided in a way that meets the Accessible Information Standards and is in a format that the Service User can understand.
El Marsh Care Ltd – will seek out opportunities to obtain feedback from Service Users and stakeholders. El Marsh Care Ltd – will act with sensitivity, integrity and professionalism by treating individuals who do complain or raise a suggestion with compassion, courtesy and respect. The service will protect the Service User’s right to confidentiality. El Marsh Care Ltd – will ensure that alternative methods of communication are available so that the complaints and suggestions procedures are accessible for Service Users who experience difficulties with communication or whose first language is not English.
Staff will undertake training on how to manage complaints in line with their role and responsibilities.
El Marsh Care Ltd – understands that it can be difficult to separate a complaint from a concern, therefore, El Marsh Care Ltd – will follow this policy when any dissatisfaction arises with the service.
A full record will be held of all complaints received regardless of the level of seriousness and means of communication. This approach allows an open and transparent culture around raising concerns in the earliest stage to allow resolution. A record of the complaint will also be held in the Service User’s care file and reported in line with contractual or regulatory requirements.
Where a complaint or concern is raised that relates to a Service User being harmed or likely to be harmed, El Marsh Care Ltd – will follow its Safeguarding Policy and Procedures in addition to the complaints procedures, seeking advice and guidance from the Sandwell Council Safeguarding Adults team and escalating concerns in line with Sandwell Council procedure. El Marsh Care Ltd – will also notify CQC in line with our statutory duty.
It is acknowledged that all staff working within El Marsh Care Ltd – could be presented with an individual wishing to raise a concern or complaint at any time, therefore staff need to be able to manage this in a sensitive, structured and timely manner. In order to do this staff should:
El Marsh Care Ltd – welcomes compliments and suggestions and recognises their importance in celebrating and recognising the success of our service and opportunities for improvement. We will engage with a wide range of stakeholders in addition to Service Users to support service development and improvement. We will share feedback with our staff.
El Marsh Care Ltd – will follow the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman best practice and where Service User are receiving services for more than one organisation, we will ensure they can make a complaint to anyone and be provided with a single response following a joint investigation.
A complaint can be received by El Marsh Care Ltd – either verbally or in writing and can be made by:
El Marsh Care Ltd – should ensure that Service Users are given information on how to make a complaint and the process once a complaint has been made, including any agreed timescales.
Complaints should be submitted within 12 months of the incident or concern arising. The time limit, however, can and should be waived, if:
Step 1
When a complaint is raised to staff, staff will make an effort to resolve it immediately to the satisfaction of the complainant.
Step 2
Staff will apologise for the fact that there was the need to complain in the first instance and explain the complaints process as described in the procedure steps.
Step 3
Staff will report the complaint to the most senior member of staff on duty and the complaint will be logged.
Step 4
Formal acknowledgement of all complaints received (whether verbal or written) will be sent within 3 working days to the complainant. This could be via letter or email. El Marsh Care Ltd – will have a local system in place to manage out-of-hours and weekend complaints received.
The acknowledgement will include:
Step 5
Following a full investigation, a response letter will be sent and this will include the following:
Step 6
The complaint will be closed once confirmation has been received that there is satisfaction with the outcome. In the event of dissatisfaction, El Marsh Care Ltd – will support the complainant to access further support (refer to section 5.6)
A record will be held of all complaints raised and contain the following information:
Where complaints relate to a Service User, a copy of the complaint will be held in their care records so that the Service User can reflect on the recommendations.
Where complaints are raised by telephone, the log will include date and time of the call and this should be followed up with written confirmation of the areas discussed.
Where a complaint indicates the potential abuse of Service Users, safeguarding policies will be followed as per local authority expectation and necessary notifications made to the regulatory body. Where care is commissioned by Sandwell Council their reporting procedure for notifying them of complaints should be followed.
Where complaints are to be shared as part of learning, the complaint should be anonymised so there is no identifiable Service User information.
All investigations will be managed by using the following approach:
Where necessary, advice and support will be sourced via senior managers within the organisation. The complaint should be investigated by a member of staff with the knowledge, experience and seniority to undertake the investigation robustly.
Confidentiality of information will be considered at all times and staff will adhere to the confidentiality policies and relevant codes of practice.
If an investigation of a complaint results in disciplinary action of staff within El Marsh Care Ltd -, the complaint will continue to its conclusion. The complainant will be informed that the investigation has led to disciplinary process, but the details of the outcome or ongoing investigation should remain confidential.
There are many bodies that can support or will need to be informed of unresolved complaints:
Individuals have the right to raise their complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. This is a free service and individuals can contact their Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman via: The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry CV4 0EH Tel: 0300 061 0614
Email: advice@lgo.org.uk Website: https://www.lgo.org.uk/
Complaint form: https://www.lgo.org.uk/complaint-form
Individuals should be advised that the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint until the provider has had the opportunity to respond and resolve the matter in the first instance.
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (For Service User that are NHS funded) Individuals have the right to raise a concern about a service that is NHS funded. This is a free service and individuals can contact via:
Telephone 0345 0154033
Email phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk
Website www.ombudsman.org.uk
Address Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP.
Care Managers can also signpost individuals to Healthwatch and the local independent complaints advocacy services (ICAS). Care Quality Commission.
El Marsh Care Ltd – is registered with and regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC cannot get involved in individual complaints about providers but is happy to receive information about services at any time. Individuals can contact the CQC at:
Website www.cqc.org.uk
Email enquiries@cqc.org.uk
Address Care Quality Commission (CQC) National Correspondence
Citygate, Gallowgate Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4PA Tel: 03000 616161
Fax: 03000 616171
Individuals can make a complaint about a health service they are receiving or have received and can discuss this with the commissioner of the service. Local contact details can be located via: http://www.england.nhs.uk/ccg-details/#ccg-e
Individuals have the right to raise concerns and complaints about adult social care regardless of whether or not they pay for their own care or if the Council funds it. Individuals can make a complaint about organisations who provide services on the Council’s behalf. The contact details for the Local Authority Complaints Team are:
If a complaint involves the serious misconduct of a healthcare professional, their relevant professional body can be informed and this is determined on an individual case basis in discussion with the Registered Manager.
For any external bodies managing complaints El Marsh Care Ltd – will work with the external body providing information as requested within any agreed timescales expected.
Receiving compliments is an opportunity to celebrate and recognise success. El Marsh Care Ltd – will ensure that:
El Marsh Care Ltd – will monitor, review and analyse all information received about the service as a means of continuously reviewing performance, quality and safety.
El Marsh Care Ltd – will also:
Anonymous complaints should be investigated in the same way as named complaints. They should be logged and any corrective action necessary should be taken and also logged.
Where more than one organisation is involved in the Service User’s care they, or their representative, should be able to complain to any of them and El Marsh Care Ltd – will contact the other organisations, carry out a joint investigation and provide a single joint response. Service Users should not have to contact each organisation separately.
If someone complains and El Marsh Care Ltd – is not responsible for the care or service complained about, rather than turning them away, El Marsh Care Ltd – should share the concerns with the correct organisation(s). You will need the individual’s permission to do this. If the person prefers that their complaint is not shared with another organisation (or organisations), El Marsh Care Ltd – should signpost them to the right organisation instead and provide the person with their contact details. El Marsh Care Ltd – will follow LGO guidance for managing this.
All efforts will be made by Miss Chelsey Neal to resolve all complaints within El Marsh Care Ltd. If a Service User does not wish to raise a complaint directly to management within El Marsh Care Ltd – in the first instance, staff should try and sensitively establish their reasons why and aim to resolve and address any concerns that present.
Decisions to raise complaints outside of El Marsh Care Ltd – will be fully respected and the Service User should be supported to raise their complaint to the commissioner of the service or to seek the support of an independent advocate or representative. Staff should also refer to section 5.6 for a further list of organisations that can be accessed.
Service Users can also be signposted to the Citizens advice guidance.
We always aim to provide a high standard of care in all our services.
Our Service Users’ views are important to us and help to ensure our services are consistently meeting people’s needs. If you are unhappy with any of our services, it is important that you let us know.
If a complaint alerts us to possible abuse or neglect, we will tell the Council’s Adult Safeguarding Team. The Safeguarding Team will decide how to investigate and monitor outcomes.
Often people feel more comfortable suggesting improvements than complaining formally. Suggestions can be made by anyone receiving services, or their friends/family. To make a suggestion you can:
If the suggestion is something that El Marsh Care Ltd – as a company needs to consider you can send it to:
Registered Manager
El Marsh Care Ltd
21-22 Pure Offices
Broadwell Road
Oldbury B694BY
E: info@elmarsh.co.uk
T: 03301244399
We aim to handle complaints quickly, effectively and in a fair and honest way. We take all complaints seriously and use valuable information from investigating to help us improve the service we provide. We treat all complaints in confidence.
El Marsh Care Ltd – Barnford View assures Service Users and their families that it will not withdraw or reduce services because someone makes a complaint in good faith.
Anyone affected by the way El Marsh Care Ltd – Barnford View provides services can make a complaint. A representative can make a complaint for the affected person if they:
If you are not happy about making a complaint yourself and you do not know someone who can talk or write to us on your behalf, we will be happy to find someone from an independent organisation to act as an advocate of you.
You can complain:
Where someone complains verbally we will make a written record and provide a copy of it within 3 working days:
We deal with anonymous complaints under the same procedure. However, it should be noted, if you provide contact details, we can update you on the outcome of our investigation.
The Registered Manager has overall responsibility for dealing with all complaints made about their service. We will provide as far as is reasonably practical:
The Registered Manager or El Marsh Care Ltd – Barnford View may ask one of the management team to investigate the complaint. That person will have enough seniority and experience to deal with the issues raised by the complaint.
We will formally acknowledge a complaint within 3 working days and give you the name and contact details of the person investigating it.
We will keep you informed about the progress of the investigation. We aim to have all complaints finished within 28 working days unless we agree a different time scale with you.
When we have finished investigating, we will arrange to meet with you to discuss the outcome, and write to you with:
You should complain as soon as you can after the date on which the event occurred or came to your notice. If you complain more than twelve months later, we may not be able to investigate properly. However, we will consider whether you had a good reason for not making the complaint sooner and whether, despite the delay, it is still possible to investigate the complaint effectively and fairly.
At any stage during the process, if you are not happy with the way the service is dealing with your complain you can contact the HR at:
El Marsh Care Ltd
23 Pure Offices
Broadwell Road
Oldbury B694BY
E: HR@elmarsh.co.uk
T: 03301244399
You can also contact your Local Authority Complaints Team to complain. You can contact the Local Authority Complaints Team at:
Local Authority Complaints Team
Once we have dealt with your complaint, if you are not happy with the outcome you can refer your complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and ask for it to be reviewed. The Local Government an Social Care Ombudsman provides a free independent service.
You can contact them at:
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman PO Box 4771
Coventry CV4 0EH Tel: 0300 061 0614
Email: advice@lgo.org.uk Website: https://www.lgo.org.uk/
Complaint form: https://www.lgo.org.uk/complaint-form
NB: The Ombudsman will not normally investigate a complaint until the provider has had an opportunity to respond and resolve matters.
El Marsh Care Ltd – services are registered with and regulated by the Care Quality Commission. The CQC cannot get involved in individual complaints about providers but is happy to receive information about services at any time.
You can contact the CQC at:
Care Quality Commission National Correspondence Care Quality Commission (CQC)
National Correspondence Citygate, Gallowgate
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4PA Tel: 03000 616161
Fax: 03000 616171
Website: www.cqc.org.uk
Available upon request, please contact head office for further information.
