Making a complaint about a care provider
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It can be very upsetting to find out that there is a problem with your relative’s care, but a good care provider should welcome feedback and do their best to put things right.
On this page we explain how to raise awareness of a problem and then go on to give information about keeping records and the five steps to take when writing a letter of complaint.
1. Raising awareness of the problem
2. Escalating a complaint: self-funders
3. Escalating a complaint: local authority-funded care
4. Keeping records
5.Writing a letter of complaint
6. Making complaints count
If you need to make a complaint about a care home or domiciliary agency, there are procedures in place to help you take your worries further. Don’t be afraid to speak up – if you don’t raise concerns, nothing can be done about them. Raising awareness of problems could help to make things better for your relative, as well as for other people being cared for by the same provider.
If you have a concern relating to an assessment or funding allocation or the way a member of council staff has treated you, see Challenging local authority and NHS assessments for more information.
Raising awareness of the problem
Help us improve care Have you had experience of a care home behaving in an unfair, unclear or misleading way? Have you found that a care home has had unexpected charges or fees, or unclear contract terms? Which? wants to hear about your experiences. Share your story using our tool.
Speak to the care home/agency manager to give them a chance to investigate, explain and put things right. Tell them what you want them to do. Don’t be worried about raising issues. If you don’t speak up, then improvements can’t be made or problems resolved. Most problems can be easily resolved at this stage.
Refusing care
If it looks like a carer hasn’t been doing certain tasks for your relative, check to see whether this is because your relative has refused care - in which case, a carer legally can’t do what was originally asked of them.
If your relative doesn’t want certain things done for them, this should be noted in the daily report sheets by the carer. If the pattern of refusal continues, always follow this up with the agency manager. This applies to all clients, regardless of their mental or physical health.