Social services complaints

Social services complaints

If you are unhappy about the service you have received or you want to make a complaint on behalf of someone else, please contact social services.

If you need help to make a complaint, or to represent someone who does, please contact the complaints team.

Please tell us if you wish to make your complaint in Welsh.

If you require support to raise a concern, “Llais – your voice in health and social care” can help you do this. Llais is an independent body which provides a free Advocacy service to support members of the public who may wish to raise a concern. Llais also provide advice and information on the most appropriate course of action. You can contact your local Llais office at the following address:

What happens next?

If possible, let the person you have been dealing with know about your complaint. They will try to resolve it immediately. If this is not possible, there are two stages to the complaints process.

Stage 1 – local resolution

We will acknowledge your complaint within two working days of its receipt. You will be contacted within 10 working days of the date of acknowledgement by the person looking into your complaint and they will offer to either meet with you face-to-face or discuss your complaint over the phone. The discussion will make sure we understand your complaint and what you would like to happen.

When the complaint has been resolved, we will write to you within five working days.

Stage 2 – formal investigation

If your complaint has not been resolved at stage one, you can request that your complaint be investigated by a person independent of the council.

If your request is granted, we will write to you with a formal written record of your complaint within five working days of the date of the request.

Before the investigation can start, you will be asked to confirm that our understanding is correct and what you would like to happen. The date that the content of the complaint is agreed will be the ‘start date’ for the complaint investigation.

A response to the complaint investigation should be sent to you within 25 working days of the ‘start date’. If this is not possible, we will write to you and tell you why this is and let you know when you are likely to receive the response. This will be as soon as possible after the 25 working day deadline and no later than six months from the date we received your complaint.

The response will:

• Give you a summary of your complaint
• tell you about the investigation
• say whether the complaint is upheld, partially upheld or not upheld
• explain what action will be taken, if any
• apologise if appropriate
• include a copy of the Independent Investigator’s Report –if there is a reason we cannot include this, we will tell you what it is
• give you the chance to meet us to discuss the response and the Independent Investigator’s Report
• tell you how to complain to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales if you are still not satisfied with the result of your complaint

CIW are interested in feedback on services but cannot investigate complaints.

Related pages

• Health and social care homepage
• Western Bay health and social care programme