Raising a Concern

A complaint is defined as:

“an expression for dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard or quality of service, action or lack of action by Carolina House Trust or its staff, carers or volunteers, which has affected an individual or group of individuals in receipt of a service provided by Carolina House Trust.”

 You can raise your concern at any time about an incident that happened in the past, is happening now, or you believe will happen in the near future.

You should inform your Supervising Social Worker if you have any serious concerns or come across any wrong doings whilst being a carer for Carolina House Trust.

If the concern is about your Supervising Social Worker, you should speak to Gill Merrett, Team Leader Family Based Care Team.

You should record your concerns giving names, dates and places where possible, and the reason why you are concerned. If you do not feel able to do this, the member of staff you speak to will make a written record of their conversation with you. Concerns should be expressed as soon as possible.

Certain information will be classed as a ‘protected disclosure’.  A protected disclosure must relate to a specific matter and be made in a certain way.

Specific matters include:

• A criminal offence has been, is being or is likely to be committed.
• A person has failed, is failing or is likely to fail to comply with any legal obligation.
• A miscarriage of justice has happened, is happening or is likely to happen.
• The health and safety of any individual has been, is being or is likely to be damaged.
• Damage to the environment has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur.
• Information showing any of the above has been or is being or is likely to be deliberately hidden.

The issue will be looked into and either an internal enquiry of formal investigation will take place. You will be informed of the outcome. If you are not happy with the outcome, you can raise this with the Sara Lovelock, Head of Operations.

Concerns which come under another procedure e.g. Child Protection or Adult Protection will be referred and dealt with under the relevant Carolina House Trust Policy.

If you are not satisfied with the explanation or reason given to you, you should raise the matter with the appropriate organisation or body, e.g. the Police, the Environment Agency, Health and Safety Executive, Care Inspectorate, Office of Scottish Charities Regulator (OSCR) or Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).