How to complain
Registered service providers are required by law to have a complaints procedure, setting out how people who use services or those acting on their behalf can complain about the service. This helps providers to improve the quality of the service that they provide and empowers people who use them.

Complaints about service provision can also be made to your local CSCI office which will look at the complaint to determine the most appropriate response. Whatever route the investigation of a complaint takes, CSCI will acknowledge the complaint in writing and inform the complainant of how it is to be investigated. There are a number of possible investigation routes:

Service provider to investigate
Where appropriate the complaint will be referred back to the provider to investigate in the first instance and the outcome of this will be shared with both the complainant and CSCI.

Child or adult protection investigation
If a complaint relates to an allegation of abuse against children or adults then the commission will refer the complaint to the relevant social services authority in accordance with local procedures for the protection of vulnerable people.

Other agency to investigate
Depending on the nature of the complaint, CSCI may consider it to be more appropriate for another agency to investigate, for example: a complaint about food hygiene might be referred to the environmental health officer.

CSCI to investigate
CSCI may decide to investigate the complaint itself either in the first instance or following the service provider's investigation of the complaint. A summary of any CSCI complaints investigations will be included in the inspection reports for regulated services.

The commission uses complaints as a source of information for improving services whether through the provider's own initiatives in response to a complaint or through appropriate use of the Commission's enforcement powers where there have been breaches of the regulations.

See also

Inspection & Regulation
service

CSCI web site