See also - ‘If you are not satisfied with your care services’ in
section Care services (community care etc).

Given here are notes on complaining about:        Social Services
                                                                              Health Service

Social services: The community care legislation makes provision for a formal complaints procedure. This is set out in new sections 7A and 7D inserted in the Local Authorities Social Service Act 1970. Among other things these provisions require local authorities to comply with any directions from the Secretary of State in carrying out their social service function; empower the Secretary of State to establish a complaints procedure; enable the secretary of State to hold inquiries; and enable the Secretary of State to declare an authority to be in default and to give remedial directions, which, on the application of the Secretary of State, are enforceable by mandamus (i.e. command of a High Court).

Each local authority must have a written complaints procedure in place and should give advice and encouragement to those who might wish to use it.

The procedure should include the right to refer your complaint to an independent review panel if you are dissatisfied with the outcome, and then on to the Local Government Ombudsman if you are still not satisfied.

A factsheet– Social Services Departments’ Complaints
Procedure - A Guide for Service Users, is available from
RADAR, 12 City Forum, 250 City Road, London EC1V
8AF (Tel: 0207 250 3222; Minicom: 0207 250 4119;
Fax: 0207 250 0212), 1992, price 75p including postage and packing.

Similar guidance is contained in the Carers National Association free booklet, Your guide to rights and services, ( from Carers National Association, Ruth Pitter House, 20-5 Glasshouse Yard, London EC1A 4JS; Tel: 0207 490 8818; Fax: 0207 490 8824, free in response to a large s.a.e envelope).

The Public Law Project , Charles Clore House, 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR, in response to a large s.a.e envelope will send you a free self-help pack including a flow chart and standard letters that you can adapt for your own circumstances.

Health Services (NHS) New complains procedures were introduced on 1 April 1996. Notably, the NHS Ombudsman’s powers were extended to cover clinical judgement and family health services. The new procedure is divided into two possible stages: firstly, attempts at local resolution; secondly, an independent review. There may also be an opportunity, if the problem is not being resolved to your satisfaction, to refer it to the Health Service Ombudsman. At all stages you can seek information and support from your Local Community Health Council (in Scotland, Local Health Council), the address of which can be found in your telephone directory. In the case of medical accident you may find it helpful to consult

Action for Victims of Medical Accident, Bank Chambers, 1 London Road, Forest Hill, London SE23 3TP (Tel: 0208 291 2793; Fax: 0208 699 0632)

Serious complaints which may call into question the clinical judgement of a doctor may well involve legal action, and will certainly do so if you are seeking compensation. In these circumstances you will need to consult a solicitor.

If you decide to use the NHS complaints procedure, you need to act as quickly as possible: the complaint should be made within six months of the date of the incident that caused the problem, or, as the case may be, within six months of the date of discovering the problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident. Complaints may be investigated outside these time limits but only at the discretion of the health provider.

The first stage is to complain directly to the service provider, e.g. a GP, hospital, ambulance service, dentist, pharmacist or optician. Should you be unable to resolve your complaint in this way, you can ask for an independent review, preferably by writing direct to the health authority. Your request will be handled by a ’covenor’, appointed for this purpose by the health authority, and must reach him/her within 20 days of you being informed of the completion of the local resolution stage. You do not have an automatic right to a review: you will need to convince the covenor that there are adequate grounds for setting up an independent review panel. The covenor may suggest an alternative way to resolve the complaint, e.g. by referral back to the service provider, conciliation by an independent third party, or by advising you of your right to take the matter to the Ombudsman.

If the covenor decides that your complaint should be considered by an independent review panel, he/she will arrange this. The panel will be chaired by an independent lay person and the majority of members will be independent of the service provider. If there are questions on clinical judgement, the panel will include at least two independent clinical assessors. There will not be a formal hearing, but you and other parties to the complaint may well be invited to an interview or meeting.

The panel will present its findings in writing and you will have the opportunity to comment on them before a final report is sent to the chief executive of the trust or health authority concerned, who will then advise you of the action, if any, they will be taking in the light of the report.

Further information about the new procedures is given
In a Department of Health free booklet, Acting on
Complaints, available from PO Box 410, Wetherby
LS23 7LN, fax: 0990 210 266.

Action for Victims of Medical Accident (address above) has also prepared a helpful summary.

A factsheet, Making a Complaint, is available from the local Community Health Council.

If you believe that your complaint has not been properly investigated under the NHS complaints procedure, the Ombudsman may be able to carry out an investigation. The Ombudsman has wide powers of investigation, although Parliament has excluded certain matters (for instance, complaints which have been taken to a tribunal or a court of law) from his/her jurisdiction. Further details are given in leaflets available from the following addresses, to which complaints should also be addressed:

England: Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BW 
(Tel: 0207 276 2130)

Scotland: 28 Thistle Street, Edinburgh EH2 1EN 
(Tel: 0131 225 7465)

Wales: 4th Floor, Pearl Assurance House, Greyfriars Road, Cardiff CF1 3AG
(Tel: 02920 394621)- The relevant leaflet is in both Welsh and English

Northern Ireland: Office or Northern Ireland Commissioner for Complaints,
33 Wellington Place, Belfast BT2 6HN (Tel: 02890 233821)

Given here are notes on complaining about:    Government Services
                                                                                        Local Authority Services
                                                                                        Independent Housing
                                                                                        Aids and Equipment

Government Services: If you or your affairs are dealt with unsatisfactorily by civil servants they should be challenged. Hopefully, cause for complaint is becoming increasingly rare, but there are some grounds for concern that in certain places services to the public are so inadequate that dissatisfaction is almost inevitable. In the ordinary way, complaints about the actions of a government department or agency should first be taken up with the agency or department concerned at a suitably high level, and best in writing with a copy saved for reference. Sometimes you may want to seek the help of a local organisation , e.g. your Citizens’ Advice Bureau or Coalition for Disabled People, which can support your complaint. If the matter is really serious, you may find it necessary to take legal advice or to seek the help of your MP, either in writing (keeping a copy) or at one of his/her local ’surgeries’.

In the most serious cases - where it is claimed that injustice has been sustained through maladministration - your MP can be asked to refer your complaint to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BW (helpline: 0207 276 2130; Fax: 0207 276 2135). The Commissioner can also investigate complaints against departments’ own grievance procedures and complaints that they have refused access to information to which the public was entitled.

The Scope of the Commissioners powers excludes the investigation of certain matters - for instance, complaints which have already been taken to a tribunal or a court of law, or which involve local authorities, the police, nationalised industries, or the Post Office. Nor can the Commissioner accept a complaint direct from a member of the public. It must be referred through an MP, and include a statement that the complaint consents to the matter being put to the Commissioner. Further details are given in a leaflet available from the Great Smith Street address above or your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau

Local Authority Services: In practice, the level and standard of assistance available to disabled people vary considerably from place to place. Some Authorities appear to lack a dynamic commitment to the needs of disabled people, while all find economic restraints a considerable problem. Where both these drawbacks apply, the results can be disastrous. It is essential therefore, that, together with their carers, disabled people are aware of their rights to services and are persistent and forceful in pressing for necessary help. In particular, they should be aware of section 4 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 and be prepared to exercise the right which it confers. If that fails, or there is an unjustified delay, it may be necessary to turn to the complaints procedures. If local authorities - or, indeed, local authority officials - are slow and unconcerned, then they need to be made to jump. For to long disabled people, generally, have been passive and grateful for small mercies.

Complaints against local authorities should first be raised with the department concerned or with the chief executive of the authority. If you are not satisfied with the response, you can send your complaint in writing to the Local Government Ombudsman, or ask a councillor to send it for you. You should, however, remember that the Ombudsman can investigate complaints only in the following circumstances:

The complaint has previously been brought to the attention of the authority, and the authority has had reasonable time to reply

Personal injustice has been caused as a result of administrative fault, e.g. unjustifiable delay, bias, incompetence, neglect etc.

A free booklet, Complaints about the Council? How to complain
to the Local Government Ombudsman, is available in English,
Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Chinese, Greek, Turkish
And Vietnamese. Your local council, library, or CAB may have copies or you can obtain them direct from one of the Local Government Ombudsman at the following addresses:

England: Greater London, Kent, Surrey, East and West Sussex: Local Government Ombudsman, 21 Queen Anne’s Gate, London SW1H 9BU (Tel: 0207 915 3210; Fax: 0207 233 0396)

England: the South West, the West, the South, East Anglia and most of Central England:

Local Government Ombudsman, The Oaks, Westwood Way, Westwood Business Park, Coventry CV4 8JB (Tel: 02476 695999 Fax: 02476 695902)

England: the East Midlands and the North of England: Local Government Ombudsman, Beverley House, 17 Shipton Road, York YO3 6FZ (Tel: 01904 663200 Fax: 01904 663269)

There are separate organisations and arrangements in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, where you can contact the following addresses:

Wales: Commission for Local Administration in Wales, Derwen House, Court Road, Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan CF31 1BN (Tel: 01656 661325).

Scotland: Commission for Local Administration in Scotland, 23 Walker Street, Edinburgh EH3 7HX (Tel: 0131 225 5300).

Northern Ireland: Commissioner for Complaints in Northern Ireland, Progressive House, 33 Wellington Place, Belfast BT1 6HN (Tel: 02890 233821).

Independent Housing:

Independent Housing Ombudsman (IHO)
Norman House, 105-109 Strand London WC2R 0AA
Tel: 0207 836 3630, 0345 125973 cost of a local call
Fax: 0207 836 3900

The Housing Ombudsman scheme is free to users. It will consider complaints against registered social landlords and other members of the IHO scheme by people receiving a direct service from them. It produces a series of free leaflets and other publications for landlords, complainants and their advisers.

The leaflet How can the Ombudsman help me? Is available in English, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Greek, Turkish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Arabic. There is also an audio cassette which explains the service orally in English for those with sight or reading difficulties. People with speech or hearing problems can contact the scheme through Typetalk.

In addition to resolving complaints, the Ombudsman is able to identify deficiencies in service delivery and to help to improve the quality of service provided by registered social landlords and other members of the IHO scheme.

Scotland has a separate Housing Association Ombudsman at 2 Bedford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3BL

Aids and Equipment: Your consumer rights are protected in law in respect of aids, equipment and related services as for any goods and services. This is a complex area, but you can readily obtain advice and help. Contact either your local Trading Standards Department (in some areas called the Consumer Protection Department) which is a service run by your local authority, or your local Citizens Advice Bureau. In addition, a number of concise, authoritative free leaflets are available from:

Office of Fair Trading, Field House, 15-25 Bream’s Buildings, London EC4A 1PR
(consumer information line: 0345 224499 - cost of a local call)