Got a minute to help? Take our quick website survey>
How do I make a complaint?
When you need to make a complaint about your mental healthcare or social care, it can feel difficult, scary and confusing.
There are lots of different options for where and how you can make complaints, which can feel overwhelming at times.
Going through the complaint process might not be easy, but we're here to help.
What are complaints?
Learn the basics about making complaints before reading about the process.
You shouldn't feel too scared or overwhelmed to make a complaint. It is doable and possible! – Saffron
What will happen when I make a complaint?
Depending on where or who you've made a complaint to, the people who receive it might handle it in very different ways. There are special rules on how to make complaints for:
- Social care services, like child services run by local authorities
- Health services run or paid for by the NHS
Our tips for the complaint process page has guidance on how to find out where to make your complaint.
Each section below covers what happens next when you complain about:
Making a complaint about health services in England
In this case, the NHS must run or pay for the service that you're complaining about. Once you've made your complaint, the service should confirm they've received it within 3 working days.
They should let you know:
- How they will investigate your complaint
- When they will send you a response
If you don't feel comfortable meeting to talk with them, they can send you a letter or email. This should explain how they will investigate and when you should get a response.
Once they've finished looking into your complaint, they will send you a written response explaining:
- How they've investigated your complaint
- What they've decided
- Any action they plan to take because of your complaint
If they don't send you a response in the time they said they would, they'll need to send you a letter or email to explain why. At the end of the complaint process, the final outcome will be a different result or action depending on your complaint.
When I left school, my problems with CAMHS got worse. But I knew my worth and what I deserve. I complained and got a new therapist with no culture clashes.
Making a complaint about social care in England
If you make a complaint about social care in England, like child services, you might see up to 3 stages in the process.
Complaint stage 1
The service that you're complaining about should arrange to discuss your complaint with you to try and resolve the problem. After this discussion:
- If your complaint is resolved, they will write to you setting out what you've agreed together.
- If your complaint is not resolved, they will write to you to say what they've done to try to resolve your problem. They should also tell you about your right to move to stage 2.
Stage 1 should last up to 10 working days (2 weeks). If your complaint is complicated or if you would like support from an advocate, this stage could be extended for an extra 10 days.
Complaint stage 2
The service will investigate your complaint, then an independent person will take a second look at the investigation.
Stage 2 should last up to 25 working days (5 weeks) but could last up to 65 working days (13 weeks) at most. If it's going to take longer than 25 working days, someone should tell you about this.
When they complete their investigation, they will write to you explaining:
- How they've investigated your complaint
- What they've decided
- Any action they plan to take because of your complaint
They might also write to explain what they think about the investigation and any other action that should be taken. They should also tell you about your right to move to stage 3 if you're not happy with the response.
If you want to go to stage 3, you must decide within 20 working days (4 weeks) of hearing back about the investigation.
Complaint stage 3
A panel of 3 independent people will consider:
- What happened in stage 2 of the investigation
- Whether the investigation was good enough
The next step is usually an ‘in-person hearing’, which should happen within 30 working days (6 weeks). This means that the panel and people from the social care team will meet together to talk. They'll also invite you to come, but you can bring people for support or to speak for you, like a parent, carer or advocate. If you don't want to go to the in-person hearing, you can usually write to the panel to explain what you want them to do.
The panel will decide on the solution of your complaint within 5 working days. They will recommend what the local authority social care service should do.
You should receive a response from the service 15 working days after the decision of the panel. At the end of the complaint process, the final outcome will be a different result or action depending on your complaint. If you're unhappy with the outcome, you can complain to the Ombudsman.
Making a complaint about health services in Wales
The service that you're complaining about must be run or paid for by the NHS in Wales. They should confirm they've received your complaint within 2 working days. They should let you know:
- How they will investigate your complaint
- When they will send you a response
- What type of support you can get, like advocacy
They might also send you a letter or emailing confirming how they will investigate and when you will get a response.
Once they've finished looking into your complaint, they will send you a written response explaining:
- How they've investigated your complaint
- What they've decided
- Any action they plan to take because of your complaint
They should do this within 30 working days (6 weeks). If they don't send you a response within this time, they will need to send you a letter or email to explain why. They must send you a response as soon as possible, but it can take up to 6 months.
At the end of the complaint process, the final outcome will be a different result or action depending on your complaint.
Making a complaint about social care in Wales
The social care service that you're complaining about should respond to you within 2 working days. In their response, they should:
- Tell you more about the complaint process
- Offer help and guidance for your complaint, like advocacy
- Offer to meet with you within 10 working days (2 weeks) to see if you can agree how to resolve your complaint
If you don't want to meet with them, they can send you a letter or email confirming how they'll investigate your complaint and when you'll get a response.
If meeting with them:
- Resolves your complaint, they will confirm what you've agreed together in writing.
- Does not resolve your complaint, they will send you a ‘written statement’ of what your complaint is about, so you can check it's all correct and truthful.
After they've finished looking into your complaint, they will write you a response to explain:
- How they've investigated your complaint
- What they've decided
- Any action they plan to take because of your complaint
They should do this within 25 working days (5 weeks) of agreeing your written statement. At the end of the complaint process, the final outcome will be a different result or action depending on your complaint.
It can be really stressful, tiring and painful making a complaint. Revisiting things that have happened is hard – Saffron
What could be the result or action at the end?
You might feel overwhelmed by the long and often complicated process of making a complaint about health or social care.
At the end of any type of complaint process we've covered on this page, you might end up with 1 or more of these outcomes:
- An apology. You might get a written or verbal apology from the service to resolve the problem and make sure it doesn't happen to you again.
- Recommendations. If an independent panel has taken part in the complaint process, they might make recommendations on how the service needs to change.
- Financial compensation. This means you will get some money as part of an apology to help with what you've been through.
- Future improvements. Your complaint might make the service aware of their problem, to make sure nobody else goes through this in the future. This will really help other people, even though it might not feel satisfying for you.
- Unable to investigate. A lack of proof or information might mean the service or independent panel will not be able to fully investigate your complaint. They won't be able to take it any further, which can feel upsetting.
- Change a decision. Your complaint might have involved a health or social care decision that resulted in an action that affected you. If so and if they agree, the final result might be to go back on that decision to resolve your complaint.
Understanding each possible outcome can help you see your goals clearly or remind yourself want to achieve from your complaint.
There are also things you can do if you're not happy with the result of a complaint.
Even if you don't think you can make a difference, you usually can – Kalia, 18
Where do I complain about something that happened in hospital?
You might need to complain about how someone treated you or the care you received when you were kept in hospital for your mental health.
If something happened while you were sectioned or on a Community Treatment Order (CTO), you may be able to complain to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England or the Health Inspectorate Wales (HIW).
Their websites have information about how to make a complaint:
The CQC and HIW will usually ask you to complain to whichever hospital sectioned you or put you on a CTO. This process can feel complicated and difficult, but you can get an advocate to help you.
The CQC and HIW cannot investigate complaints about things that happened while you were an informal patient.
What is being sectioned?
Find out more about what it means to be kept in hospital for your mental health.
I didn't realise I still had a right to have my opinions heard on things like treatment or what was happening to me, even while it meant doctors had the final say.
Ask someone to help you or make the complaint for you
A parent, guardian, carer or other trusted adult could:
- Support you while you make your complaint
- Come to meetings about the complaint and offer support during the investigation
- Directly make your complaint for you
If someone else makes the complaint for you, the service might check that you're happy for this person to do so. Some services might not allow this, which means you'll need to submit it yourself but can still get someone's support.
Ask an advocate to help you make the complaint
You have a right to get support from a professional advocate. You can also ask the service you're complaining about for details on how to access an advocate.
Advocates can help with complaints in many different contexts, including complaints about your time in hospital.
Getting support from an advocate
What does it mean to get support from an advocate to help with your complaint?
Getting support from another person can be really beneficial, even if it's not a professional advocate.
Using the Ombudsman
The Ombudsman is an independent person or organisation that can investigate complaints. They only investigate certain complaints and have certain rules for what they will investigate.
You may be able to ask the Ombudsman to investigate if you're unhappy with the result of your complaint about either:
- Health services that are run or paid for by the NHS
- Social care services, like child services run by local authorities
It is free to use the Ombudsman. If they agree with your complaint, they can make recommendations to help put things right for you.
You'll contact a different Ombudsman depending on what your complaint is about:
- NHS in England – Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
- Social care services in England – Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
- NHS or social care services in Wales – Public Services Ombudsman
Telling a regulator
A regulator is an organisation that monitors health and social care. You can talk to a regulator at the same time as making a complaint.
Talking to them won't resolve your complaint, but can help push for change and improvement. By telling the regulator about problems with the service, you're helping other young people who might face the same problem in the future.
You'll contact a different regulator depending on what your complaint is about:
- Health and social care in England – Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- Healthcare in Wales – Health Inspectorate Wales (HIW)
- Social care in Wales – Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW)
Most people working in health and social care belong to a regulator which sets out special rules for how they do their job. For example, the regulator for doctors is the General Medical Council.
On the Health & Care Professions Council website, you can find a full list of regulators.
Even when you don't get the help or outcome you desire, the fact that you mentioned it at all can be helpful to you and others – Kalia, 18
Speaking to a lawyer
If you've tried our ideas and nothing has helped, you might want to speak to a type of lawyer called a solicitor. They can talk you through your options and tell you whether you or your family could take legal action.
Our page of useful contacts for young people has a section on contacts for legal rights and advocacy support.
I need tips for coping while making a complaint
Making a complaint can feel scary, overwhelming and take up a lot of your time. It's important to find ways to look after your own wellbeing.
Child services
This is a department of social services, run by a local authority (local government), that deals with children and young people’s social care. It's also called children and young people’s services.
Child services can:
- review your care needs
- support your parents or carers
- support you if you have a disability or special educational needs
- help protect you from harm like domestic abuse.
Visit our full treatment and support glossary
Local authority
This is the local government for an area. It provides services for the people who live or are staying in the area. These include health services, social services, schools, transport and housing.
Each local government can decide how services are run. This means that some services in different areas may have different rules.
Visit our full treatment and support glossaryChild and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
These are services that support young people with their mental health.
You might see them called different names sometimes, but they offer the same type of services for young people:
- In Wales, they're called Specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (SCAMHS)
- In England or Wales, you might also hear them called Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS)
Find out more in our CAMHS information hub.
Inpatient care
This is the care you get when you’re staying in hospital. You might be an informal patient or you might be sectioned. You might also be having treatment and support for your physical health.
See our pages on being an informal patient or being sectioned for more information.
Visit our full treatment and support glossaryCounsellor
Counsellors listen to you and give you a safe space to explore how you’re thinking, feeling and behaving. They also help you find ways to cope with things.
Visit our full treatment and support glossaryTherapist
This is a trained professional who runs or supervises your therapy. Therapists help you explore how you’re thinking, feeling and behaving, and what can help you in the future.
There are different types of training and education for therapists. This means they all have different titles, like psychologist, therapist, counsellor or psychiatrist.
Visit our full treatment and support glossaryRights
Rights generally exist to protect and help us. If you have a right or the rights to something in everyday life, it means you're entitled to have it or do it. Our rights are often set out in laws, like the Equality Act 2010. Sometimes, rights might be set out in other policies and guidelines.
Some rights can never lawfully be taken away from us. However, sometimes another law can interfere with or restrict our rights, like if we are arrested or sectioned.
For more information, see our page on your rights.
Visit our full treatment and support glossaryAdvocate
An advocate is someone who can listen to you and help make sure your voice is heard in decisions about you.
In some situations, you will have a right to have an advocate. This is called statutory advocacy.
Even if you don’t have a right to an advocate, there are other types of advocacy that can support you to get your voice heard.
See our page on advocacy for more information.
Visit our full treatment and support glossarySectioned
Being sectioned means that you’re kept in hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983.
There are different types of sections, each with different rules to keep you safe and give you treatment.
The length of time that you can be kept in hospital depends on which section you are on.
See our page on being sectioned for more information.
Visit our full treatment and support glossaryCommunity Treatment Order (CTO)
This is when you’ve been discharged from hospital but you still need to follow certain rules. For example, taking medication or seeing your doctor. If you become unwell, you could be brought back to hospital.
You can only be put on a CTO if you’ve been on certain sections, like 3 or 37.
See our page on being sectioned for information about the different sections.
Visit our full treatment and support glossaryInformal patient
This is another phrase for voluntary patient. It means that you, or someone who looks after you, agree for you to stay in hospital to get treatment and support for your mental health.
See our page on being an informal patient for more information.
Visit our full treatment and support glossarySolicitor
A solicitor is a type of lawyer who can support and represent you and your family in a legal case. Solicitors can help you understand laws related to any problems you have.
Hiring certain solicitors can cost a lot of money, while others don't charge at all. You might hire a solicitor for example if you're making a complaint or struggling to claim something you have a right to.
For more information about legal topics related to mental health, head to our rights hub.
Visit our full treatment and support glossaryPrivate (healthcare)
Most of us have the right to free NHS treatment for mental health in England and Wales. However, private healthcare is another option which costs money instead of being free.
For example, this could mean paying to see a private counsellor or therapist if you need extra support, or need help quicker than the NHS waiting list. You can pay for private services while you also have NHS support, or instead of it. Private healthcare can cost a lot of money.
Visit our full treatment and support glossaryThis information was published in July 2024. We will revise it in 2027.
The quotes on this page are from young people we spoke to while making this information. They've given us their consent to use their quotes in our information. The words, experiences and opinions in the quotes are not related to the young people shown in any of the photographs we use.
References are available on request. If you would like to reproduce any of this information, see our page on permissions and licensing.
