Residents and their families are entitled to expect high standards of care and treatment. They also expect to be treated with kindness, respect and dedication.

Where residents, or their families, perceive that standards fall short of what they consider to be acceptable, nursing homes must have simple and effective arrangements to deal with these situations.

The complaints procedure adopted by your Nursing home must outline

• How to make a complaint
• The stages and timescales involved
• The manner in which feedback will be provided
• How to refer a complaint to the Social Services Inspector

As well as seeking to prevent, and to minimise, the circumstance in which complaints may arise registered providers and their staff must embrace the need to deal constructively with complaints, and suggestions, and respond quickly and positively in accordance with their guidelines.  

The complaints and suggestions procedure must be easy to use, written in plain language and readily accessible to residents and their relatives.

The person in charge, and the registered provider, must monitor complaints and suggestions, and recognise that they give a useful insight into existing problems and offer new ideas which can improve their services.