York: Adult social care services complaints nearly doubles

City of York Council spent more than £8,500 compensating complainants in 2021/22

The number of complaints about City of York Council's adult social care services almost doubled in the last financial year.

According to the authority's annual report, 42 complaints were made during 2021/22, up from 28 in the previous year.

It noted issues with assessments, a lack of action and the quality of advice and communication.

The council spent more than £8,500 compensating complainants in 2021/22.

Two recent complaints were escalated to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which investigates grievances about local councils.

In one case, the authority paid a £200 fine after failing to communicate properly about payments for social outings after a woman's father entered hospital, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In another, the council accepted there were delays in financial assessments and reviews of a woman with learning disabilities' care, errors in the transport provision, and a failure to carry out a carers' assessment. The council agreed to pay out £500.

Of the 42 complaints, three were graded as "red" compared to zero in the previous year.

Despite the number of complaints doubling, there were 53 complaints made in 2019/20.

In its report, the council said larger numbers of complaints "can be partly a reflection that the procedures we have in place are accessible and customers are supported to make complaints which provide invaluable feedback".

It said complaints provided useful information to make improvements, including training for staff dealing with people with autism.

The authority also said there were 37 compliments registered in the last year but not all compliments were recorded.