Complaints and Compliments
Compliments and Complaints about Southwark Council
We try to meet our service users needs in the most effective way. It is very important that we hear views and comments from service users. This might include areas for us to change or improve, or things that are a success and services you want to compliment.
Below you can find where to send your comments and compliments.
Any complaints or compliments related to Southwark Council's education or social care services can be made using an online form. Alternatively, you can email details to:
Email: sscomplaints@southwark.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7525 3977
Further information can be found on the Southwark Council website.
You can register compliments or complaints regarding Southwark Council services, other than education or social care, by calling the Customer Services Centre:
Tel: 020 7525 0042
Email: complaints@southwark.gov.uk
Further details can be found on the Southwark Council website.
Please provide your comments and feedback on the Southwark Local Offer by contacting us directly:
Tel: 020 7525 3104
Email: localoffer@southwark.gov.uk
If you have used the SIAS service, please click the link below to complete a short feedback form. Service user feedback will help SIAS to evaluate their service and to make improvements.
Click here to complete the SIAS Feedback Form
Contact details:
Tel: 020 7525 3104
Email: sias@southwark.gov.uk
HealthWatch is an independent champion for patient and public voice in improving health and social care. They are there to make sure your views on local health and social care services are heard. Their aim is to bring people together to influence and improve services, through you sharing your experiences with them. They have places on various care boards and groups where they raise issues important to you.
Please see the Healthwatch Southwark website for further information.
NHS Complaints Advocacy is free, independent of the NHS and confidential. We can help you to use the NHS complaints process which covers all NHS funded treatment.
As well as NHS hospitals, GPs, ambulance services, district nurses and mental health services you can also use the NHS complaints process to complain about your dentist (if they treat you as an NHS patient), a pharmacist (if you had an NHS prescription) or your optician (if the NHS pays for your eye tests and glasses).
What sort of support can NHS Complaints Advocacy Service offer?
You can download our leaflet (pdf, 463kb) or visit our website for details of how we can support you. We will listen and help you decide whether there are other ways of sorting out your concerns.
How do I get support from an advocate?
If you would like an advocate to support you with your complaint you can contact us or download and complete a referral form (docx, 178kb) and send it to us. You can also make a referral for someone else you will need to get their permission first.
Contact information:
Tel: 0300 456 2370
Email: nhscomplaints@pohwer.net
Website
All commissioned services have their own complaints policy. Advice on how to make a complaint about a charity or other providers can be found at: www.cqc.org.uk and www.charitycommission.gov.uk
You can also follow Southwark's complaints process to raise concerns related to services that we commission. You would usually have raised your query directly with the service in question before the complaints team, however, this is not mandatory.
Southwark Council are not responsible for investigating complaints about schools, Academies, Free schools, Colleges or Universities, as they have their own complaints procedures.
For more information and advice on how to make a complaint for these organisations please follow this link: Gov - Complain About a School
The LGO (Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman) look at individual complaints about councils, all adult social care providers (including care homes and home care agencies) and some other organisations providing local public services.
Anybody can complain to the LGO and they are a free service. They will usually require that you give the organisation you are complaining about a chance to sort out your complaint first. They suggest going through all stages of the organisation’s complaint process before complaining to them.
You can find further details and lodge a complaint via the LGO website.