Adult social care compliments, comments, complaints and appeals
Adult social care compliments - tell us what's working well and help us celebrate great care
We want to hear about your good experiences with adult social care services. If a Council worker or service has done a great job, let us know. Your compliments help us celebrate good work and keep improving.
How to send us a compliment
You can share your compliment by filling in our online form - this makes sure we get all the information we need and sends your message to the right team.
Write to us
Your Feedback, Lewisham Council, Laurence House, 1 Catford Road, London SE6 4RU.
This is a FREEPOST address.
Why your compliments matter
Your compliments help us see when we are doing well and thank our team members for their hard work. They help us keep providing good service.
Other ways to give feedback
- comments - we want to hear your suggestions and ideas about services
- complaints - if you are unhappy with something we have done that not been resolved you can complain: we want to provide a good quality service, and if things go wrong we need to know so that we can put them right
- appeals - if you disagree with an adult social care decision, you can appeal
Adult social care complaints - let us know if something's wrong so we can put it right
If we've made a decision about your care and support needs that you disagree with, you can appeal the decision. The decision might be about the services we are offering you, or your eligibility for support.
Who can make a complaint
Anyone who receives, or is affected by, a social care service can make a complaint.
If you prefer, you can ask someone to complain on your behalf. This could be a relative, friend, carer, doctor or someone independent who can speak for you.
How we will deal with your complaint
Our complaints procedure is based on government guidelines. The procedure aims to resolve complaints more effectively and gives us the chance to learn and improve.
The complaints procedure
- we will tell you within three working days that we have received your complaint. If you have given us your telephone number, we will call you to discuss how you would like us to proceed
- we will investigate your complaint within the next 25 working days - if your complaint is more complicated, we may ask you for more time, and we may also ask to visit and talk with you about your concerns
- we will give you a detailed answer in writing that explains how we looked into your complaint, what we found out and what we think should happen next
- we will inform you about any learning or improvements we think can be made as a result of your complaint and how will implement it
- we will talk to you about how you can take your complaint further if you do not think we have answered all your concerns.
We want to address something that may have gone wrong as quickly and fairly as possible and we will always try to do that first, without making you go through the complaints procedure.
Refer your complaint to LGSCO
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) investigates the administration of local authorities. We work with the LGSCO to try and get the best from complaints.
You can refer your complaint to the LGSCO at any time, or read their advice and guidance about making a complaint.
Contact:
PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH
Email: advice@lgo.org.uk
Telephone: 0300 061 0614
If you need help with your complaint
If you want to contact us but would like some help and advice on how to tell us your concerns, you can use an advocacy service to support you.
You may also want to refer to the Government's policy paper ‘Adult social care: quality matters’ to help you make a complaint.
We also have an appeals procedure.
If we’ve made a decision about your care and support needs that you disagree with, you can appeal the decision. The decision might be about the services we are offering you, or your eligibility for support.
If you think you need to make a complaint and appeal a decision, we will help you to do both.
If you would like to appeal against a decision we have made, follow the appeals procedure.
Adult social care appeals - if you disagree with an adult social care decision, you can submit an appeal review
What is an appeal?
An appeal is when you disagree with a decision made by adult social care and would like us to review it. If you believe the decision is wrong or unfair, you have the right to ask us to look t it again and consider all the facts.
Who can appeal?
Anyone who is affected by the adult social care decision can appeal against it.
If you prefer, you can ask someone to appeal the decision on your behalf. This could be a relative, friend, carer, doctor or someone independent who can speak for you.
What decisions can be applied?
You can appeal any decision made by adult social care. Common examples include:
- eligibility under the Care Act (2014)
- adaptations and equipment: appeals about adaptations, such as Disabled Facilities Grants, or equipment provision under the Care Act (2014)
- mental capacity and best interest decisions: appeals related to decisions made under the Mental Capacity Act (2005)
What decisions cannot be appealed?
There are some decisions that we cannot review through the adult social care appeals process:
- older decisions: appeals must be made within six weeks of the decision being communicated to you - we cannot consider appeals for decisions made more than six weeks ago
- repeat appeals: we cannot accept for the same decision if it has already been reviewed
- decisions made by other services: some decisions may seem related to adult social care but are made by other departments or external agencies - these include:
- housing eligibility decisions
- financial assessments, debt waivers or charging appeals
- deferred payment agreements
- appeals under the Mental Health Act (1983) (handled by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust)
- human rights assessments related to No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF), though we will work with the NRPF team if there is an appeal related to Care Act eligibility
How to appeal a decision
- contacting the worker who informed you of the decision
- emailing adultcareappeals@lewisham.gov.uk
- calling 020 8314 6131 - leave a message and we will get back to you
- writing to FREEPOST Adult Social Care Complaints, Lewisham Council, Town Hall, Catford SE6 4RU
The appeals process
- acknowledgement: we will confirm we have received your appeal within three working days - if you provide a phone number, we'll call you to discuss how you'd like us to proceed
- review panel: the member of staff who worked with you, along with their manager, will arrange for an internal independent panel to review the decision
- information gathering: at least 10 days before the panel meets, the worker will contact you to ensure all the relevant information is available - you can provide this information in writing, in person or via phone, video link, or other methods, and you can also have someone else present with you or have them present information on your behalf
- outcome: after the panel reviews your case, we will provide you with a detailed written response - this will explain what we found during the review, how we came to our decision, and what should happen next
Adult social care comments - let us hear your suggestions and ideas about our services
We value your feedback and want to hear your thoughts on how we can improve our adult social care services. Whether you have suggestions, ideas or observations, your comments help us shape the future of our services and ensure we're meeting our needs.
What are comments?
Comments are your suggestions, ideas, or opinions about how we can improve our services. They help us understand what works well and where we can make things better. Unlike complaints, comments are not about something that went wrong, but about what could be improved or done differently.
How to share your comments
Write to us at Your Feedback, Lewisham Council 3rd Floor, Laurence House, 1 Catford Road, London SE6 4RU. This is a FREEPOST address, so a stamp is not required.
Why your comments matter
Your ideas and suggestions are important to us. They help us:
- improve the quality of care we provide
- understand what's working well and where we need to make changes
- ensure we are delivering the best possible services to meet your needs