Compliments & Complaints Annual Report 2023 to 2024
5. Adult Social Care (ASC) complaints
The ASC statutory complaints process is a single stage aimed at resolving issues locally within 48 hours, usually starting after the Concern Stage. The graph shows 66 statutory complaints in the year, down from 73 in 2022/23. During the Concern Stage, if agreed with the complainant, the service has 48 hours for informal resolution. This year, 53 concerns were handled compared to 84 the previous year.
Adult Social Care statutory concerns and complaints
| Concerns | Complaints | |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 16 | 13 |
| Q2 | 12 | 18 |
| Q3 | 15 | 13 |
| Q4 | 10 | 22 |
| Total 2023/24 | 53 | 66 |
The graph below illustrates a decline in both the total number of complaints and concerns resolved informally. Fewer issues are being raised for informal consideration, largely because many of these involve funding decisions (such as care home residents who were previously self-funded now receiving care in more cost-effective settings). These matters are more suitably addressed through formal complaints processes. Overall, there has been a 25% reduction in cases considered at either the Concerns or Complaints stage compared to previous years.
Annual comparison of concerns and complaints
| Year | 2021/2022 | 2022/2023 | 2023/2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complaints | 49 | 73 | 66 |
| Concerns | 105 | 87 | 53 |
| Total | 157 | 160 | 119 |
Although the statutory timescale permits up to six months for issuing a final response to a complaint, the Council has established a local benchmark of 28 calendar days to resolve most complaints. The average response time in 2023/24 was 22 days, an improvement from the 26 days recorded in 2022/23. This reduction in response time is the result of ongoing reviews and enhancements to procedures.