Rising complaints about adult social services in Barnsley

COMPLAINTS about adult social care services at a South Yorkshire council have risen by more than a tenth in a year.

Barnsley Council has released figures showing it received 93 complaints in 2011/12, compared with 82 in 2010/11.

The majority of complaints were about older people’s services and were regarding poor or inadequate communication with staff or about the standard of the service provided, a report has revealed.

The statistics were revealed in the council’s annual adult care services report, which said: “When someone makes a complaint we want to investigate their concerns thoroughly and fairly and reach a swift resolution and ensure a proper apology and redress is given where this is justified.

“We are committed to learning from this feedback as this is a valuable source of information from which the service can learn and improve.”

The council is planning other improvements to care for disabled people , which include taking part in a national pilot scheme called Right to Control, with seven other councils, including Sheffield.

It gives people with physical and mental conditions more control by combining their funding from different sources and allowing them to choose what support they need.