Independence in complaints procedures: lessons from community care

Abstract

This article looks at internal complaints procedures and considers the role of independent elements in procedures that are designed to be simple, informal and low cost. Taking the example of local authority community care services as a case study, the article discusses research which looked at the views of complainants, potential complainants and those who run the procedure. Most people do not make formal complaints at all and very few people seek an independent review of their complaint. When they do seek such a review, they expect it to be transparently independent of the body complained about. The article concludes that the current system of local authority complaints review panels or committees does not provide the independent element that complainants seek.

Keywords:

• complaints
• rights
• social care
• ombudsmen
• administrative justice

Acknowledgements

This article is based on research funded by an ESRC PhD studentship at the University of Edinburgh. Further development was carried out during a post‐doctoral fellowship at the University of Strathclyde. I am grateful to the people whose experiences of complaining formed the basis of the research and to the local authorities which provided research access. I would like to thank Brian Thompson for comments on an earlier draft of this article.

Notes

1. Community care services in this context consist of services provided by local authorities, or in some cases funded by local authorities, to enable people with disabilities to live in the community. In terms of the legislation, community care also includes residential care where it is funded by the local authority. Community based services could include home helps, equipment and adaptations, day centres and support services.

2. For an analysis of the relative merits of different options under consideration in 2005, see Gulland (2006).