We welcome comments, suggestions and complaints from our service users. By telling us what you feel and about your experience of using our services, you help us to provide a better service.

We endeavour to provide a high quality service at all times. However, things can sometimes go wrong for unpredictable reasons. Clients or their representatives are entitled to complain about any aspect of our services if they are unhappy or dissatisfied with the care they receive from us.

It is hoped that in most cases discussion with our Agency staff and /or the office staff will resolve the problem quickly to your satisfaction. If for some reason you are unable to discuss your problem with the carer or our office staff, or they are unable to resolve the matter satisfactorily, you should contact the General Manager (Mrs Charlyn Duru) who is also the complaints manager by telephone, post, email or in person, who will then look into your complaint. (Her full postal address and contact number is given at the end of this leaflet.)

When we receive your complaint, we will make a written record if the complaint. A copy of this and an acknowledgement letter will be sent to you within five working days which will outline the steps we intend to take to resolve the problem, how long it is likely to take us to respond and who will be investigating the complaint. All complaints will be investigated by a person with sufficient seniority to resolve the issues. We will also write to your representative if you want us to do so.

A complaint must be made no later than 12 months after:

• the date the event occurred or, if later,
• the date the event came to the notice of the complainant.
The time limit will not apply if we are satisfied that:
• the complainant can give a good reason for not making the complaint within that time limit, and despite the delay, it is still possible to investigate the complaint effectively and fairly.

If you cannot make the complaint yourself for any reason and you do not have somebody who can complain on your behalf, we will be quite happy to find somebody for you from an independent organization to act as an advocate for you.
To avoid misunderstanding and prevent problems from developing, we advise clients and staff to follow the following guidelines;

1) Clients and their representatives to keep us informed on any issues affecting their care.
2) Staff to keep the complainant informed about the progress of the investigation.
3) Clients or their representatives to ask any member of staff for further information on matters, which they do not fully understand
4) Staff to offer assistance to enable clients to understand the complaint procedure and to offer advice on where clients may obtain assistance and details of local advocacy services.
5) A record of all complaints is kept and includes the following information:
a) Date of key events including first receipt.
b) Nature of the complaint.
c) From whom the complaint was received and who made the complaint if different
d) What actions and investigations are planned and how soon they will take place. Exact dates such actions were carried out.
e) The outcome or resolution of the complaint
f) What further actions to be taken where the outcome failed to satisfy the client.
g) Referral to outside bodies such as UKHCA, Care Quality Commission or relevant Local Authority whose contact details appear below.

Our expected turnaround time is usually 28 days and we aim to have all complaint investigations concluded within six months unless a different deadline is agreed with the complainant.

If after we have given our response to your complaint, you are not happy and feel that your complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily, you should inform us accordingly in writing and we shall look at the matter again or you can write to the Hon Secretary of the United Kingdom Homecare Association Limited (UKHCA) with details of your complaint. The Hon. Secretary of the association will inform you and the Agency of their recommendations within four weeks.

Alternatively you can direct your complaint to the Local Authority’s Social Services Unit whose contact details are obtainable from our head office.

You can also make a complaint to the local Government Ombudsman (LGO). The LGO provides a free, independent service. The LGO will not usually investigate a complaint until the provider has had an opportunity to respond and resolve matters.

Our service 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 our services at any time including complaints or compliments.

We also welcome compliments about any aspects of our service delivery as well as complaints. Comments should be addressed to the Registered Manager who will process your compliment and pass it on to the relevant staff member or team.

If you are interested in any of our services, you can request an information pack from us.

Please specify in the subject box which service you are interested in; e.g.: private home carer, temporary staff for residential home, training information etc.