Hi,

I’m presently doing the Level 3 Diploma in Care, I need to know, what the procedure is, once the CQC have received a complaint about an aspect of care?

I would be grateful for a response.

Answered by Sheila Scott

Dear Susan,

“We’re not responsible for resolving individual complaints, but we do want to hear from people who experience or know about poor care because we use this information when we inspect services.”

This is a quote from CQC’s report “Complaints and concerns matter to CQC”.

There is a lack of consistency to the actions of local inspectors, sometimes complaints are investigated but some such as in the case of Winterbourne View were not investigated.

I hope that there is a more consistent approach now with the new methodology and approach to inspection.

This is the link to the latest published position statement by CQC.

Complaints matter: http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/complaints-matter

The details of the legal position is published here:

Regulation 16: Receiving and acting on complaints: http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/regulation-16-receiving-and-acting-complaints

All responsible registered providers take both complains and compliments seriously and where a complaint is up held learn from the experience.

Best wishes.

Sheila