Issue - meetings

To prepare an Annual Report on the implementation of the Representations and Complaints Procedure for submission to the Care Scrutiny Committee in order to scrutinise and monitor the arrangements for dealing effectively with complaints received from service users and their representatives.

To accept the report, noting the observations made during the discussion.

The report was presented by the Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Well-being, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, Head of Adults, Health and Well-being Department, Assistant Head - Safeguarding and Quality (Children and Supporting Families Department), Assistant Head - Safeguarding, Quality Assurance, Mental Health and Community Safety of the Adults, Health and Well-being Department.

Members were reminded that the Council had a statutory responsibility to report on how it investigated and responded to complaints in accordance with the Social Services Complaints Procedure (Wales) Regulations 2014 and the Representations Procedure (Wales) Regulations 2014. It was explained that these arrangements for social services differed from the general complaints system operated within the Council.

It was confirmed that the Report shared information about the Adults, Health and Well-being Department as well as the Children and Supporting Families Department in a bid to ensure that the same arrangements were in place for both departments.

It was explained that specific criteria were used to identify which events were appropriate to respond to. It was noted that these were usually services that had been provided up to 12 months in advance of the complaint being lodged, rather than historical matters.

It was elaborated that the Stage 1 procedure was a means of trying to resolve the complaints by receiving the team manager's response and holding direct conversations with the complainants. It was confirmed that if this did not resolve the situation, complainants were entitled to request an investigation as part of the Stage 2 arrangements. It was emphasised that these were conducted by investigators who were independent of the Council but were individuals on a recognised list. It was explained that complainants could start the process at Stage 2 without going through Stage 1, noting that this was now the tendency, particularly with Children and Family cases. It was noted that if the matter could not be resolved following an investigation, it could be escalated to the Ombudsman. However, it was emphasised that no issue had progressed to this stage.

It was explained that the independent investigator was qualified, experienced and managed to deal with the complexity of cases. It was noted that there was a shortage of Welsh-speaking investigators and that this was a challenge for the service and created delays in investigations as there was a need to ensure that a Welsh speaker was available to look through information and interview individuals. It was further expanded that there was a challenge in identifying independent Welsh-speaking investigators as many of them had been working locally in the area or for Gwynedd itself, resulting in a reduction in the number of people available to carry out investigations.

It was reported that Complaints Officers and Senior Complaints Officers were available to facilitate these processes. It was emphasised that they administered the processes objectively, even though the service was located within social services. It was noted that this work could be challenging due to complainants' frustration and dissatisfaction with the service they wanted to complain about.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7