Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mechanisms are in place to allow families of patients in care homes to report concerns about standards of care.

Regulation 19 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 requires all care providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to “have an effective system in place for identifying, receiving, handling and responding appropriately to complaints and comments made by service users, or persons acting on their behalf”.

Where a person's care is provided or arranged by their local authority, complaints and concerns should be directed initially to the local authority, which remains responsible for the quality of care. If a person has arranged their own care, they should pursue the matter directly with the provider in the first instance.

In both cases, should complainants not be satisfied with the response, they are entitled to ask the Local Government Ombudsman to investigate.

People may also raise concerns with the CQC, as regulator of health and adult social care services. Under the 2008 Act, the CQC does not have the responsibility for investigating specific complaints about social care providers. However, where there are concerns about a provider which is registered with the CQC, such concerns should be brought to its attention. The CQC will use this information, together with local information from partners and the public, to help it decide when, where and what to inspect.

The CQC is currently introducing a new system of inspection of social care providers. This new system of inspection will be structured around five key questions that matter most to people – are the services safe, caring, effective, well-led, and responsive to people's needs. The new inspections will make more use of people's views and will use expert inspection teams involving people who have personal experience of care. The CQC has been piloting this new approach in 252 of social care providers since April 2014.