Complaints Policy & Procedure

What is a complaints policy?

A complaints policy sets out how a care service receives, records, investigates and answers complaints, and how it learns from them. Regulation 16 says a provider must have an accessible system for handling complaints. It must look into each complaint and act on any failure it finds.

This complaints policy and procedure template is written for care homes, home care and supported living, and the scope changes for each. In a care home it takes in food, visiting and the building, and in home care it takes in visits, timekeeping and contact with the office. Supported living tenants take complaints about the tenancy or the building to the landlord, with staff helping them.

What the procedure covers

Staff record a complaint on the log the same day, even if they put it right on the spot, and use the person's own words. They then check whether it points to abuse or neglect, needs a CQC notification, or involves a notifiable safety incident under the duty of candour (the legal duty to be open and honest when something goes wrong).

From there, the template takes the manager through:

• acknowledging the complaint and naming who is handling it

• choosing an investigator who was not involved

• a written response that says what was found and whether the complaint is upheld, meaning found to be justified

• a review by a senior person if the complainant is still unhappy

• sharing learning without naming anyone

It also explains when to point people to the council and to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which is free and independent. The Ombudsman can look at complaints about all adult social care providers, whether a council pays for the care or the person pays with their own money. If CQC asks for a summary of complaints, the service sends it within 28 days.

Who handles what

Care staff try to fix things straight away and tell the person in charge the same day. The Registered Manager logs and investigates complaints, then reviews the log each month for themes. A complaint about the Registered Manager goes to the provider, and the nominated individual or a director investigates it.

What to add before you use it

Set your own timescales for acknowledging and answering complaints, and keep to them. Add contact details for the council and the Ombudsman, and check them each year.

Each complaint goes on the Complaints Log, and the Duty of Candour Policy & Procedure applies when a complaint reveals a notifiable safety incident. A complaint that suggests abuse also goes through the Safeguarding Policy & Procedure.