When we look into a complaint, we may need to review information from the service user’s health or social care records to help us understand what happened and provide a full response.
It is good practice for us to explain what information may be shared, why it might be needed, and who may have access to it. Only staff directly involved in investigating the complaint will see this information, and it will be used solely for that purpose.
If a service user prefers that their information is not shared, we will respect their wishes. However, this may limit what we can investigate or the outcome we can provide. In some cases, we may still need to continue the investigation if there is an overriding public interest, such as a concern for safety.
Complaints by a third party should be made with the verbal or written consent of the individual concerned. There will be situations where it is not possible to obtain consent, such as when the:
- individual is a child and not of sufficient age or understanding to make a complaint on their own behalf;
- individual is incapable (for example, rendered unconscious due to an accident;
- individual has impaired judgement as a result of a learning disability, mental illness, brain injury or serious communication problems);
- subject of the complaint is deceased; and
- delay in the provision of consent may result in a delay in the resolution of the complaint.