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Complain about Adult Social Care

Find out how to complain about Adult Social Care services and how we handle your complaint.

Why your feedback matters

We want every person who receives Adult Social Care services to feel safe, respected, and well-supported.

We welcome your feedback because it helps us understand what is working well, improve our services and learn from your experiences.

If you are unhappy with our service

If you are unhappy with any part of the service you have received, you have the right to make a complaint.
You will be treated fairly, your care will not be affected, and your information will be handled sensitively.

How to raise a concern

Most problems can be resolved quickly by speaking to the staff member involved in your care, or their manager.
If you prefer, you can contact the Torbay Council Information Governance Team, who will make sure your complaint is handled appropriately.

Information Governance
Torbay Council
Town Hall
Castle Circus
Torquay TQ1 3DR

You can also make a complaint using our online Adult Social Care complaints form, which can be found through the MyTorbay portal.

If you need help to make your complaint

If you find it hard to speak up, you can:

  • Ask a friend or family member
  • Ask an advocate to help you

Advocacy services in Devon are provided by Devon Advocacy Consortium.

What happens when you make a complaint

  • We will acknowledge your complaint and contact you within three working days.
  • Together, we will agree:
    • the issues to be looked into
    • what you want to happen
    • how your complaint will be investigated
    • when you can expect a response

These details will be written into a Complaint Outline letter and shared with you.

Most complaints are investigated by the manager responsible for the relevant service. If this is not appropriate, we may arrange for the complaint to be handled independently or by a senior manager.

How we resolve complaints

Our approach is based on three principles:

1. Listening

We will:

  • understand your concerns
  • agree what outcomes you are seeking
  • gather the right information
  • agree timescales
  • keep in touch throughout

2. Responding

We will:

  • investigate proportionately and thoroughly
  • keep you updated
  • respond within the agreed timescale (or discuss an extension if needed)
  • explain what we found and how we reached our conclusions
  • tell you what actions will be taken
  • explain what you can do if you are still unhappy

3. Improving

When things go wrong, we will:

  • identify what happened
  • take action to fix problems
  • learn lessons
  • improve practice, training or guidance

If you remain unhappy

You can ask to speak with the manager who responded to your complaint.

If you still feel the issue has not been resolved, you can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman:

Who can complain

You can complain if you:

  • currently receive Adult Social Care from Torbay Council
  • previously received services
  • are affected, or likely to be affected, by our decisions

Complaints can also be made by representatives, such as relatives or friends, if the person:

  • has given consent, or
  • is unable to complain due to lack of capacity, disability, or following their death

We may ask for written consent so we can share relevant information appropriately.

If your care is provided by another organisation

If the complaint is in relation to a Torbay Council commissioned the service:

If you have already been through the service’s internal complaints procedure but are still unhappy with the outcome, we will investigate your concerns and we will work with the provider to resolve issues raised.

If you arranged the care privately:

You should complain directly to the service provider or contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Direct Payments

If your concern is about:

  • your assessment
  • the decision to award a direct payment
  • how the direct payment is managed

Please contact the Information Governance team.

If the complaint is about services you bought with your direct payment, you should complain directly to the provider or to the Ombudsman.

Time limits

Complaints should normally be made within 12 months of the issue.

We can look at older concerns if it is still possible to investigate them properly.

What we cannot look at

Sometimes your complaint may include things about health services, for example:

  • Nurses
  • Therapists
  • Hospital discharge
  • NHS community teams

These health services are run by Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (TSDFT) as such should all or part of your complaint be in relation to health service, with your consent we will share the relevant information with TSDFT for investigation and response.

Care Quality Commission (CQC)

The CQC monitors and regulates care services but cannot investigate individual complaints.

You can still share concerns directly with them: