We aim to deliver high quality services and value all feedback to help us learn and improve.
On this page you can find out how to make a complaint or share a compliment or other positive feedback about adult social care.
If you are unhappy with adult social care services, it can often be resolved quickly by contacting the staff member or team involved directly. Please consider getting in touch with them in the first instance and they will try to resolve your issue as soon as possible. However, if you would like to make a complaint, please follow the process below.
Complaints will usually only be considered within 12 months of the issues happening, or the complainant becoming aware of those issues, with exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
Make a comment, complaint or compliment
You can make a complaint or compliment about any aspect of adult social care, where the council has been involved. This includes:
- residential care, or other care, if this is paid for in full or in part by the Council
- a service provided by a social worker
- any aspect of finance relating to your social care
If you are making a complaint on behalf of someone else who is supported by adult social care services, we will need their permission (unless they do not have capacity to give consent) and this means they need to complete a ‘form of authority’. Further details regarding how we seek consent can be found below.
When you make a complaint, please tell us:
- what you think has gone wrong and why (including dates or a timeframe of events where possible) to ensure that an appropriate investigation can be conducted
- what you would like the outcome of your complaint to be - it is helpful if you can be clear and specific, although you do not have to include a lot of detail because we will aim to talk to you about any further information you want to share later in the process
If you would like to share positive feedback or a compliment about a specific staff member, we value hearing about how you feel we got it right. This is so we can learn from where things are working well.
How to contact us
You can contact us by:
- printing and completing our complaints, compliments and comments form
- online
- phone: 0121 704 8296
- writing to Children's and Adults Complaints Team, The Council House, Manor Square, Solihull, B91 3QB
If you are contacting us by email or our webform, you will receive an automated acknowledgement email to confirm receipt within a few hours to let you know what happens next. If you have not received this email, please check your junk or spam folder before contacting us again.
If there are any circumstances that we need to consider, such as a disability, when dealing with you about this complaint, please let us know. This will allow us to do all we can to remove any barriers to you in the complaints handling process.
Who can help me?
If you need help making a complaint, you could ask someone to make the complaint on your behalf. This could include:
- your social worker
- a family friend
- someone else you trust
You will need to complete a form of authority if you want someone to act on your behalf when making your complaint (this will not apply to individuals who are deemed as lacking capacity to provide consent).
A copy of the form of authority will be sent to you by a member of the Complaints Team once they have had an opportunity to review your concerns. Details of how and where to return the completed document will be provided with the form.
How will you respond to my complaint?
When we get your complaint we will confirm that we have received it within three working days by sending the automated acknowledgement described above.
We will then contact you to make sure we understand what's making you unhappy, and agree how and when we will make a response (usually within 60 working days).
What if I am still unhappy?
We always aim to resolve your complaint and we have regard to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s guidance. However, if you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman who can give you independent advice on your complaint.
The Ombudsman will usually expect you to complete the Council's full complaints process first. However, you can contact The Ombudsman’s Advice Team at any time.