Social care appeals and complaints

If you're told you don't qualify for services, but you feel should, you can appeal against this decision.

You can also appeal if you feel not all of your needs were looked at when they decided you didn't qualify - or you don't agree with what they decided about your money situation.

If you do qualify for services, but feel you're not being offered enough help, you can appeal for more.

You can get find out how to make an appeal from:

• your local library
• on some councils' (or trusts') websites
• your social worker
• or our booklets about getting social care support from your council (England and Wales only)

  > Read 'Social care - getting support from your council in Wales'
  > Read 'Social care - getting support from your council in England'

If you have a complaint about a service, talk this through with whoever runs it. That could be the social services team of your council (or trust in Northern Ireland) or your social worker, if you have one. If this doesn't sort things out, all local councils (and trusts) have a complaints procedure. This will tell you how to complain, how they'll deal with your complaint, and how long they should take to answer it.

You can call your local council (or trust) for a copy of their complaints procedure, or find it on their website. You can also ask your social worker or get a copy from the local library.

Complaining doesn't mean your service will stop or be cut back. It's your right to expect high-quality support and to complain if you don't get it.

There may be local support to help you. Contact your local MS Society group or Citizens Advice to find out what’s in your area. In Scotland you can also contact the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance.

If you want to make a complaint about a registered care service you can contact:

• Care Quality Commission in England
• Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority in Northern Ireland
• Care Inspectorate in Scotland
• Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales

If you’ve followed the complaints procedure and things don't get better, you can turn to your local government and social care ombudsman:

• Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
• Northern Ireland Ombudsman
• Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
• Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

Together, we’ve already reached 90% of all MPs in England with our emails about the care crisis. Thank you! Now 80 other charities are helping keep up the pressure.

Find out about our campaign to end the care crisis