Complaints

We are committed to providing high quality services for the people of South Tyneside. However, there may be times when things go wrong and you are not happy with service you have received from Adult Social Care and Commissioning. We want to hear about it as soon as possible so we can try to put things right for you and solve any concerns.

We also want to hear when things go well or if you have ideas about how we can do things better. Your comments will help us to be sure we are providing high standards of service.

Who can make a complaint

Anyone who receives a service from Adult Social Care or who may have been refused a service. You can complain yourself or someone may complain on your behalf.

If someone else makes a complaint on your behalf, we will need consent from you, or someone who has the relevant authority to act upon your behalf, before we can deal with this. We require this due to Data Protection regulations. If you do not give your consent, we will not be able to look into the complaint.

If you need any assistance in making your complaint, please get in touch. We can look at what assistance or advice we can provide.

When you make a complaint, you will be treated fairly. You will not be discriminated against either in the investigation of your complaint, or in any service you receive or request.

Complaints involving other organisations

If your service involves more than one agency, for example Health Services, we may need to involve them in the investigation.

We will let you know if we need to do this and request your consent to share the complaint with them.

What happens next

We will try to sort out your complaint as soon as possible. We will talk to you about your complaint and ask you what we can do to put things right. We will let you know how we are planning to investigate and inform you about the outcome.

Sometimes we might have to use a different way of dealing with your complaint. For instance we might have to use our Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults procedures to look into concerns when people are at risk of harm.

How to get in touch

You can contact us by telephoning, emailing or writing to the Complaints team:

Complaints
Engagement, Communications and Support Services
Town Hall and Civic Offices
Westoe Road
South Shields
NE33 2RL
Tel: 0191 424 6028
Email: complaints@southtyneside.gov.uk

If you remain unhappy

Our complaints process is one stage. However, if you are not satisfied with the response you receive, we can offer a review of your complaint to see if there is anything more than can be done before you approach the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman.  You should contact the Complaints Team to discuss this further.

If you remain dissatisfied, you can take your complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. The Ombudsman will not normally look into a complaint until the Council has had an opportunity to deal with it. However, you can contact the Ombudsman's Advice Team at any time:

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
Web: Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman
Tel: 0300 061 0614
Opening hours - Mondays and Fridays from 1pm - 4pm, and Tuesday to Thursday from 10am - 1pm (except public holidays)

Making a compliment or comment

If you are really pleased with the service you receive, we would like to hear about it. Your views are very important as they tell us if we are getting things right.

You can comment on our services, staff and how we could improve. You can also compliment us on a service you have received.

You can do this by:

• completing our online feedback form
• telling the member of staff or their manager
• telephoning 0191 424 6028
• emailing customer.advocates@southtyneside.gov.uk
• writing to the Town Hall address above

Making a complaint

We may be able to deal with your complaint through initial contact from an officer or manager who works in Adult Social Care and Commissioning. They can discuss your concerns and agree a plan of action to resolve this with you. If you have already done this, or want to discuss your issue with someone else, you can contact us to make a complaint.

You can do this by:

• completing our online complaint form
• emailing complaints@southtyneside.gov.uk
• telephoning 0191 424 6028
• writing to the Town Hall address above

Try to make your complaint as soon as possible after the problem occurs. We ask that complaints are made within 12 months of the event happening and complaints made after this time may be considered out of time, though they will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Full details of the Adult Social Care complaints procedure can be found in Council's Complaints Policy.