Surveys and Consultations
We’ve continued to request feedback from people who receive care and support from us so that we can monitor our performance and improve services where needed. This year, due to our continued focus on responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, we didn’t conduct the annual citizen survey, however, you will find examples of other surveys and consultations throughout this report.
Complaints and compliments about our services
These provide us with direct feedback from people who receive our services, and their families. They highlight areas where we are doing well, and also where we can improve our practices. Receiving a complaint means that we can:
- Acknowledge them quickly when we make mistakes
- Put them right and apologise where appropriate
- Ensure we learn lessons from complaints
Due to the way we report on complaints and compliments in social care, we are providing you with a summary of our performance from 2020-21.
In total we received 16 formal complaints into the Social Services Department during 2020-21. These are complaints (Stage 1 and Stage 2) received and concluded within the reporting year. The number represents a decrease on the previous year, and follows the trend of declining complaints over the last five years across both children’s and adults’ services.
It is likely that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has had an effect on the number of complaints made by individuals, as there has been a larger decrease in formal complaints than the average over the last three years.
As a department we always strive to resolve complaints at Stage 1 (local resolution), where it has not been possible to reach an agreement informally. During 2020-21, 14 out of the 16 complaints were resolved at Stage 1.
There is a financial impact of appointing independent investigators to complete the Stage 2 process of a complaint. During 2020-21 we spent £4,710, and this figure includes sums paid to complainants, either as agreed with the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales, or for other reasons relating to the complaints process.
In terms of timescales, all Stage 1 complaints were acknowledged within two working days (100% compliance) and 11 were completed within the 15 working day deadline (78.6% compliance). One out of the two Stage 2 complaints were completed within the 25 working day deadline (50% compliance).
69% of complaints were received by family members, and most were regarding a lack of communication from us, as well as issues around the care and support they received, and financial concerns. Further work will be undertaken in relation to classifying the themes in order to analyse trends over time, and examine any recurring themes going forward. Complaints from citizens provide us with valuable information on how to improve our services. Formal action plans are developed from recommendations from a Stage 2 Investigation, or from the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. We receive many compliments on the services we deliver over the course of the year, and 2020-21 was no exception. Our adults’ services received 139 compliments, 82 of these for the Older People Service. Children’s services received 41, the majority for the Family Support & Intervention Service.
Can I just say the warmth and care the team have shown us has been overwhelming. In a time of when we have and still do have complete bewilderment, sadness and insecurity, we have been blown away with the sincerity and kindness to our family.
