Meeting documents
Standards Committee (DCC)
Tuesday 8 November 2005
Meeting: Standards Committee (County Hall, Durham - Committee Room 2 - 08/11/2005 10:00:00 AM)
Item: A5 Annual Report of Socal Care and Health Reporesentations Procedure 2004/05
Standards Committee
8 November 2005 Annual Report of Social Care & Health’s Representations Procedure 2004/05 |  |
| Report of Debbie Jones, Acting Director of Social Care and Health |
Purpose of Report
1 To inform Standards Committee about the performance of Social Care & Health in respect of the handling and consideration of representations, as contained in the (attached) Annual Report on Representations 2004/05.
Background
2 Publication of the Annual Report on Representations is a statutory requirement.
3 The NHS & Community Care Act 1990 and the 1989 Children Act specify requirements for Social Care & Health to publish details about representations, including comments/suggestions, compliments and complaints, received from service users, carers and their representatives during the year.
4 Legislation also requires that the Annual Report contains information about how Social Care & Health has performed in its management and operation of the Representations Procedure against national and local standards.
5 The Annual Report will be considered by Cabinet in the near future, and it is Cabinet that approves it for publication.
Content
6 The Report brings together information gathered in relation to the activities involved with the receiving, handling and consideration of compliments, comments/suggestions and complaints from service users, carers and their representatives.
7 Information includes statistical data on performance against standards, key issues arising from investigations of complaints, in particular, and their impact on policy, procedure and practice, and any lessons learned across branches.
Conclusion
8 The Service receives a large number of representations each year. This is predictable given the nature of the services, which are provided at difficult times in people’s lives, and representations are a valuable source of feedback to inform service improvement. This Annual Report indicates positive achievements in Social Care & Health’s performance in the handling and consideration of representations, including complaints, during the year 2004/05.
9 The report highlights a number of areas for ongoing action:
- The impact of changes to representations procedures, locally and in national guidance: new guidance is anticipated from Government, but the national time-scales have been repeatedly delayed and it is not known either when the new guidance will be published or what exactly it is likely to change.
- The continuing need for improved recording of complaints (Section 1.2 e. of the Annual Representations Report 2004/05 covers this issue)
- The importance of learning from complaints and other representations.
Recommendation
10 Standards Committee are asked to note the content of this report.
Background Papers
Annual Report on Representations 2004/05.
| Contact: Gerald Tompkins, Head of Strategic Planning & Health Improvement Tel: 0191 3833176 |
Attachments
Annual Report of Representations Procedure 2004-05 - 8.11.05.pdf;
Annual Report of Representations 2004-05 - Covering Report - 8.11.05.pdf