Local Government Ombudsman

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LGO advice team

LGO advice team: 0300 061 0614

 

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Making a complaint

If you have a complaint, the first thing you need to do is tell the council or care provider. All adult social care services regulated by the Care Quality Commission must have a complaints procedure.

We will normally only look at a complaint after the council or care provider has had a reasonable opportunity to consider and respond to it. If you are still not happy, we may be able to help.

We aim to consider all complaints as soon as we can but recognise that some complaints are more urgent than others. Where the complaint is urgent because, for example, someone’s safety or wellbeing is at risk, we may be able to deal with the complaint without going to the care provider first.

You can submit a complaint by:

  • Calling the LGO Advice Team on 0300 061 0614 or 0845 602 1983 (8.30am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday, except 9.30am to 10.30am, Tuesday to Friday) Calls to 03 numbers will cost no more than calls to national geographic numbers (starting 01or 02) from both mobiles and landlines, and will be included as part of any inclusive call minutes or discount schemes in the same way as geographic calls. Please note that calls may be recorded for training and quality purposes.
  • Completing an online complaint form

It is usually best to call the Advice Team before you make a complaint to us. Our advisers will be able to give you advice about:

  • whether your complaint falls within our remit
  • whether you should first raise your concerns with the care provider or council that arranged your care - and where you might get help to do this
  • information it would help us to have from you
  • what special help we can provide, if you need it to make your complaint to us
  • our process and how long it may take
  • other bodies that might be able to help you if your complaint is not something we can investigate.
  • our adviser will also be able to help with any other questions you have about our service.

If a complaint has been sent to us, but we think that it should go to the council or care provider first, we will refer the complaint to them with a request for it to be considered in accordance with their own procedures. If, at the end of the process, you remain dissatisfied, or the provider fails to deal with the complaint in a timely fashion, we will consider it.

Date Updated: 10/08/11