We always aim to provide a high standard of care in all our services. Our clients’ views are important to us and help to ensure our services are consistently meeting people’s needs. If you are unhappy with any of our services it is important that you let us know. If a complaint alerts us to possible abuse or neglect we will tell the Council’s adult safeguarding team. The safeguarding team will decide how to investigate and monitor outcomes.
Making a suggestion
Often people feel more comfortable about suggesting improvements rather than complaining formally. Anyone receiving services, and their friends/ family, may make a suggestion.
First you should speak to the Manager or their Deputy. If the suggestion is something that PCS (Personal Care Services) Limited as a company needs to consider you can send it to:
Registered Manager PCS (Personal Care Services) Limited
West Lancashire Investment Centre
Maple View,
White Moss Business Park,
Skelmersdale, West Lancashire,
WN8 9TG.
Or via email: nicola@personal-careservices.co.uk
Making a complaint
PCS (Personal Care Services) Limited aims to handle complaints quickly, effectively and in a fair and honest way. We take all complaints seriously and use valuable information from investigating to help us improve the service we provide. We treat all complaints in confidence. PCS (Personal Care Services) Limited assures clients and their families that it will not withdraw or reduce services because someone makes a complaint in good faith.
Who can complain
Anyone affected by the way PCS (Personal Care Services) Limited provides services can make a complaint. A representative may complain about the affected person if they:
- Have died
- Cannot make a complaint themselves, or
- Have given consent for the representative to act on their behalf
If you are not happy about making a complaint yourself and you do not know someone who can talk or write to us on your behalf, we will be happy to find someone from an independent organisation to act as an advocate for you.
How you can make a complaint
We believe that complaints and compliments are a valuable indicator of the quality of our service, and an opportunity to improve that quality. We assure all clients that no-one will be victimised for making a complaint, and we encourage clients to instigate the complaints procedure whenever they feel that this is necessary. We do not wish to confine complaints to major issues.
We encourage clients to comment when relatively minor matters are a problem to them, such as receiving cold food, or being kept waiting without explanation, or being spoken to in a manner that they do not like. It is our policy that all matters which disturb or upset a client should be reported, recorded, and corrective action should be taken. Only in that way can we work towards meeting our aim of continuously improving our service.
You can complain:
In person
By telephone
By letter
By email
By the attached form in your Client Welcome Guide
Through a member of our staff
Through an advocate or representative
We will acknowledge all complaints whether verbally or in writing within 3 working days.
Anonymous complaints
We deal with anonymous complaints under the same procedure; however, it is better if you can provide contact details, so we can tell you the outcome of our investigation.
Responsibility
The Registered Manager has overall responsibility for dealing with all complaints made about their service. We will provide as far as is reasonably practical:
- Any help you need to understand the complaints procedure; or
- Advice on where you may get that help
How we handle complaints
The Registered Manager may ask one of the management team to investigate the complaint. That person will have enough seniority and experience to deal with the issues raised by the complaint.
We will acknowledge a complaint within 3 working days and give you the name and contact details of the person investigating it. We will keep you informed about the progress of the investigation. We aim to have all complaints finished within 28 working days unless we agree a different time scale with you. When we have finished investigating, we will arrange to meet with you to discuss the outcome, and write to you with:
- Details of the findings
- Any action we have taken
- Our proposals to resolve your complaint
Time limits
You should complain as soon as you can after the date on which the event occurred or came to your notice. If you complain more than twelve months later, we may not be able to investigate properly. But we shall also consider whether you had good reason for not making the complaint sooner and whether, despite the delay, it is still possible to investigate the complaint effectively and fairly.
Further steps
At any stage during the process, if you are not happy with the way the service is dealing with your complaint you can contact the Registered Manager at:
PCS (Personal Care Services) Limited
West Lancashire Investment Centre,
Maple View,
White Moss Business Park,
Skelmersdale, West Lancashire,
WN8 9TG.
01695 553930
You can also raise your complaint or concern with the Director of Social Services. If you need to contact a social worker please call 0845 053 0009.
Once your complaint has been fully dealt with by PCS (Personal Care Services) Limited, if you are not satisfied with the outcome you can refer your complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) and ask for it to be reviewed. The LGO provides a free, independent service.
The LGO can be contacted for information and advice, or to register your complaint:
T: 0300 061 0614
W: www.lgo.org.uk
The LGO will not usually investigate a complaint until the provider has had an opportunity to respond and resolve matters.
Our service is registered with and regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC cannot get involved in individual complaints about providers but is happy to receive information about our services at any time. You can contact the CQC at:
Care Quality Commission (CQC) National Correspondence Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4PA.
Tel: 03000 616161
Fax: 03000 61617
