The Care Quality Commission and Local Government Ombudsman have teamed up to make it easier to make complaints about adult social care services in England.
The two agencies have agreed to pass on enquiries they receive that should be directed to the other organisation.
Before the agreement, people would be advised to contact the other organisation but now the CQC and the ombudsman will transfer callers to each other and share information so that people do not have to repeat themselves.
Local government ombudsman Jane Martin said: “By working closer together we are making it easier for people to access our services, raise awareness of any issues and ultimately encourage improvement in care provision.”
Andrea Sutcliffe, chief inspector of adult social care at the CQC, said: “It is important to make sure that people are helped to pass their concerns or complaints about adult social care services to the right people to act on them with the minimum of fuss.
“The more hoops people have to go through, the less likely they are to report poor care. This new arrangement between the CQC and the ombudsman will firmly put the people first.”
The organisations say that, combined, they received around 20 enquiries a day that fall within the remit of the other agency.
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This agreement is long overdue.
Hi, Could you please clarify for me the legal situation over the issue of personalised budgets for people with learning disabilites.
I have experience that Local Authorities are assessing people for their cost of day service/care, and then telling them that they are only to use this ‘grant’ in the local authority provision, and have in some cases forbidden them to use it to other voluntary day service providers who they are currently using.
I feel this is denying a fundemental right for the individual to decide their service, and is a human rights issue.
Before I meet with certain Local authority officers I need to have a legal definition as to the choice of service the client is able to/or not able to make once assessed.
Thank you
Chris Bailey
Both organisations are useless and ineffective and lead to nothing changing. It is time to rid the public purse of the costs of organisations that are pointless from the perspective of complainants and service users. The LGO was publicly panned by a local government committee in 2012- Jane Martin is desperate to gain some public trust for it. Anyone having used it knows it is not worth the bother.
The complaints process needs to be made easier for people. The ombudsman is the last resort.
A few weeks ago I contact CQC with an Adult Care complaint and they didn’t want to know so there appears to be a lack of congruence
there.