Leicestershire Council defends adult care complaint figures

Leicestershire County Council has defended its adult care services after complaints more than doubled.

There were 70 complaints for adults over 65 years old in 2009, compared with 30 in 2008.

Council spokesman Mick Connell said the figure in 2008 was lower because of under-reporting of incidents.

New procedures are now in place to ensure “complaints are recorded wherever and however they are received”, he said.

A county council statement said: “We do not necessarily see it as a problem that the number of recorded complaints has increased, because we have made it easier to complain and have tried harder to ensure all complaints are recorded.

“Most complaints are dealt with quickly and many complainants have their concerns resolved to their satisfaction.”

Complaints were made about a range of problems including the failure to inform relatives of dementia patients of the cancellation of care visits.

“In 2009/10 we received 97 complaints in total relating to adult social care provision, at a time when these services were being provided to around 17,000 people. This amounts to 0.6% of service users.”