How to Make a Complaint

Below we offer a simple bulleted guide for each stage of the comments and complaints process.

The first thing to do is let us know what’s happened. You can:

• Speak to any member of staff at the Service in person or over the phone.
• Email us or write to us.

What we’ll need to know:

• If something has gone wrong we need to know exactly what, how and when it happened.
• If something has gone right, please tell us so that we can continue doing it and expand it into all our services.

Contacting us

• Come in – To visit the service manager or any member of staff
• Call – 01277 637525
• Email – complaints@outlookcare.org.uk
• Write to: Outlook Care Admin, Outlook Care, Foxburrow Grange, Ypres Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 7NL

We’ll contact you to acknowledge receipt of your compliment or complaint.

If you have made a complaint about a service, the manager will try to resolve your complaint straight away. If the complaint cannot be resolved at the source the Customer Service Officer will ensure it is fully investigated.

We will:

• Acknowledge receipt of your complaint within three working days.
• Inform you who will be dealing with your complaint.
• Let you know when you can expect to hear back from us.
• Keep you regularly updated of the progress of your complaint.

When we’ve thoroughly looked into your complaint, we’ll write to you.

This will be a detailed response outlining what we found, what we plan to do as a result and why we made the decision we came to.

If it looks like our investigations will take longer than 28 days from when you first contacted us, we will ensure that you are informed for the reasons for delay.
 

Our Duty of Candour 

Outlook Care will be open and honest when things go wrong with care and treatment, and we will provide you with reasonable support, truthful information and a written apology.

Firstly - we’re listening ...

If this is the case you must contact us again so that we can review the complaint, how we dealt with it and the outcome. Please write to the Chief Executive with your concerns and your reasons for the appeal. We aim to resolve your complaint fairly and justly, however we recognise that you may not be satisfied with the outcome of your complaint.
 

If you wish to take it further you can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Service to look into your complaint for you.
The LGSCO offer a free independent service:

• Phone: 0300 0610614
• Online: www.lgo.org.uk/adult-social-care
• Post: The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. PO Box 4771. Coventry CV4 0EH

If you are commenting about a registered care home/service, you can contact the Care Quality Commission (CQC):

Phone: 03000 616 161

Online: www.cqc.org.uk/contactus.cfm

Email: enquiries.eastern@cqc.org.uk / enquiries.london@cqc.org.uk

For services not registered, you can contact the local social services department where the service is based.