WIREDGOV

The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) welcomes the campaign to raise awareness about the complexity of the health and social care complaints system, led by Healthwatch England.

Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said:

“The health and social care complaints process involves numerous organisations with different jurisdictional powers, which can make it complex for the public to know who to approach and when. We are working with Healthwatch England and other partners to make the process more accessible to the public, and support ways for service providers to learn from complaints.

“This research also backs up what our complaints maze demonstrates for complaints across all public services, in that it can be a complex road for people to travel.

“We believe the social care model for dispute resolution is a good one where, as the social care ombudsman, we are in the unique position of being a one-stop-shop for all social care complaints. The public can come to us about any unresolved social care issue, regardless of whether their care is arranged privately or funded and commissioned by a local authority. This provides the public with a clear route to redress but more needs to be done to ensure that people feel able to raise their concerns. In particular, providers need to provide clearer information about the complaints process and the role of the ombudsman.”