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The Assistant Director of All Age Independence and Provider Services presented the report of the Director of Care and Health which complied with the statutory requirement for the Council to produce an Annual Report about complaints made by, or on behalf of people who receive support or services from Adult Social Care. The Annual Report also provided a mechanism by which the Council could monitor the quality and effectiveness of their services. This report provided an overview and analysis of all complaints received during the reporting period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 which included, numbers of complaints received, key themes identified, responding to complaints (including performance data against statutory requirements), an overview of complaints escalated to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the  learning from complaints. There had been an increase in complaints of 13 percent from 142 to 161. The emerging themes were similar to previous years and included complaints about the standard of care and support, social work concerns and financial charging issues. 87 percent of complaints were resolved at a local resolution stage and did not progress to the local government social care ombudsman. A decrease in the average response time from 62 to 52 working days was reported. Cases were often complex and required further in-depth review and these complaints often exceeded the timescale of 25 working days. 61 percent of complaints were fully or partially upheld. It was reported that the Council were 100 percent compliant with all the recommendations noted in the report. 80 learning points were recorded and the report gave insight into the learning from complaints. 16 complements had been received from people that used the service and staff received a handwritten complement slip from the Director.

A member referred to the 80 learning points and asked whether there could be a never event in terms of hydration and this was to be considered. Members discussed the increase in complaints which may have been due to an increased profile of the Team and encouraging partners to obtain feedback to enable further improvement.

Complaints around finances were discussed and it was explained that these were dealt with by a separate Directorate which can sometimes create issues and work was taking place with the Personal Finance Units in terms of performance and the notes that go out and the timeliness in terms of charging.

Resolved – That the contents of the Annual Complaints Report (Appendix 1) relating to statutory Adult Social Care service delivery be considered and noted.