Domiciliary Care Complaints Procedure: Steps, Timescales and a Template for Home Care Agencies (CQC Regulation 16, 2026)
What CQC Regulation 16 requires of a home care agency, a step-by-step complaints procedure you can adapt, the records to keep, and how complainants can escalate.
A domiciliary care complaints procedure must let people complain to any member of staff, verbally or in writing, and every complaint must be acknowledged, recorded, investigated, answered and acted on. CQC Regulation 16 requires an effective and accessible system for identifying, receiving, recording, handling and responding to complaints, investigation of every complaint, and necessary and proportionate action where a failure is found. CQC sets no timescales for the steps, so you set and publish your own, and tell people how to escalate if they are unhappy. If CQC asks, you must send a summary of complaints and responses within 28 days. Home care is regulated by CQC where it includes personal care.
This guide is for registered managers and complaints leads in home care agencies in England. It uses CQC’s Regulation 16 guidance and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s advice to people complaining about care providers. Where we suggest timescales or wording we say so: they are examples to adapt, not CQC requirements. For care homes see how to handle a complaint in a care home.
Key takeaways
- Regulation 16: anyone must be able to complain to any member of staff, verbally or in writing, and every complaint must be investigated with proportionate action on any failure.
- CQC sets no response times. State your own acknowledgement and response times in the procedure and meet them.
- A complaint must not affect the person’s care, and complainants must not be victimised.
- You must give CQC a summary of complaints and responses within 28 days of a request, and failing to can lead to prosecution without a warning notice.
- Tell complainants how to escalate: your senior manager, the funding council where relevant, and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
In this guide
What Regulation 16 requires
Regulation 16 says any complaint received must be investigated and necessary and proportionate action taken. The registered person must establish and operate effectively an accessible system for identifying, receiving, recording, handling and responding to complaints. CQC’s guidance adds that:
- People must be able to complain to any member of staff, verbally or in writing, and all staff must know how to respond.
- Unless they are anonymous, complaints should be acknowledged whether written or verbal.
- People’s care and treatment must not be affected by a complaint, and complainants must not be discriminated against or victimised.
- Information must be available on how to take action if the complainant is not satisfied, including the internal procedure and when complaints will be escalated to other bodies.
- Information about how to complain must be accessible in appropriate languages and formats, and providers must offer support, which may include advocates or interpreters.
- Complainants and those complained about must be kept informed of progress and of any changes made as a result.
- Providers must keep a record of all complaints, outcomes and actions, and record the reasons where no action is taken.
- Complaints about care that resulted in a notifiable safety incident must also follow the duty of candour (duty of candour).
- Providers should monitor complaints over time to find trends and areas of risk.
A step-by-step complaints procedure for home care
The stages below are a model to adapt. The timescales are our suggestions, informed by examples from agencies’ own policies (one agency commits to acknowledge written complaints within 5 working days and respond in writing within 28 days; a vendor guide suggests acknowledging within 24 to 48 hours). Pick timescales you can meet and publish them.
| Stage | What happens | Suggested timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Receive | Any staff member, in the office or at a visit, listens, records the date, who and what, and passes it to the office the same day. Care workers try to resolve small issues at once where they can | Same day |
| 2. Acknowledge | Office confirms receipt, names who is handling it and says when the person will hear back | Within 2 working days for written complaints (our suggestion) |
| 3. Triage | Decide the level of investigation. Is there a safeguarding concern, a notifiable event or duty of candour issue? If yes, act under those processes in parallel | Within 1 working day of receipt |
| 4. Investigate | A trained lead who was not involved reviews care plans, visit logs, rotas and medication records and speaks to the person, family and staff | Set a target, for example 20 working days, and update the person if it will take longer |
| 5. Respond | Written response in plain language: what was found, whether it was upheld, what will change, an apology where appropriate, and how to escalate | Within the published timescale |
| 6. Act and learn | Complete actions (retraining, rota changes, care plan updates), record them and review trends at governance meetings | Actions with owners and due dates |
| 7. Escalate | If the person is not satisfied, offer a review by a more senior person or a director, and give details of external routes | Offer on the response letter |
What is different in home care
| Home care issue | What to do |
|---|---|
| Complaints made at a visit or by phone to a care worker | Make sure care workers know they must record and pass it on. A verbal complaint counts |
| Missed or late visits | Check the rota, visit log and alerts, and record whether the failure was one of scheduling, travel or recording. Tell the person what you will change |
| Complaints about a named care worker | Protect the person’s care, investigate fairly and keep disciplinary matters in your HR process, not the complaint response |
| Several funders | The person may be funded by a council or the NHS, or pay privately. Tell the commissioner where your contract requires it, and still run your own procedure |
| Family or representative complaining | Check they have the person’s permission to act for them before sharing confidential information |
| Care in the person’s own home | Ask where and how the person wants to be contacted and whether the family may be updated |
| Complaint that is really a safeguarding concern | Refer to the local authority safeguarding team and follow the safeguarding process |
How complainants can escalate
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman says people must complain to the care provider first and give it a chance to put things right. It says most providers will only look at complaints about something that happened in the last 12 months, and that if people are unhappy with the first response they may be able to take it to a second stage or complain to the Ombudsman, which can investigate complaints about councils and care providers. CQC does not settle individual complaints, but a person can give feedback to CQC, which uses it to monitor services and plan assessments. Put these routes in your response letters so people are never left without a next step.
Template wording for your policy
You can adapt this outline (our wording, not CQC’s):
- Statement: We welcome complaints. Anyone can complain, including people using our service, their families, advocates and others, to any member of staff, in person, by phone, in writing or by email.
- Protection: Making a complaint will not affect your care. Staff must not treat anyone differently because they complained.
- Support: We will help you make a complaint, including through an advocate, an interpreter or another format.
- Timescales: We will acknowledge your complaint within [2] working days, aim to complete our investigation within [20] working days and tell you if it will take longer, and send you a written response.
- Named lead: [Name, role, contact details].
- Escalation: If you are not satisfied, you can ask a senior manager or director to review it. You can also contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, and give feedback to CQC. [Include contact details.]
- Learning: We record every complaint, the outcome and any action, and review them regularly for trends.
See CQC policies and procedures and the domiciliary care governance policy for where this sits.
Records and governance
Keep a complaints log with the date received, who complained, a summary, who handled it, dates of acknowledgement and response, outcome, actions and closure date (see the complaints log template). Report numbers, themes and overdue items to your governance meeting. Regulation 16 says you must give CQC a summary of complaints, your responses and related correspondence within 28 days of a request, and CQC can prosecute without first serving a warning notice if you do not. See Regulation 17 for how complaints fit your governance.
Never miss a complaint deadline
CQCLogic tracks actions to closure with owners and due dates, and keeps policy review dates, so complaint follow-ups do not slip. It is not a complaints case-management system, so keep your complaints log alongside it. See a sample improvement plan, view pricing or get started free.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a domiciliary care complaints procedure include?
How people can complain (to any staff member, verbally or in writing), support to complain, acknowledgement and response timescales, a named lead, how complaints are investigated and recorded, protection from victimisation, how to escalate internally and externally, and how learning is shared.
What are the steps in a complaints procedure?
Receive, acknowledge, triage for safeguarding or notifiable events, investigate, respond in writing, act on findings and learn, then offer escalation. A common summary of the process is receive, acknowledge, investigate, respond and learn.
What are the 5 steps of the complaint process?
There is no official five-step list from CQC. A typical five-step version is: receive and record, acknowledge, investigate, respond with the outcome, and act and learn from it.
Is domiciliary care regulated by CQC?
Yes, where it includes personal care, which is a regulated activity. Providers must meet the fundamental standards, including Regulation 16 on complaints.
How long do I have to respond to a complaint about home care?
CQC does not set a number of days. You set your own timescales, publish them and meet them. If CQC asks for a summary of complaints, you must provide it within 28 days of the request.
Does CQC investigate individual complaints about home care?
No. CQC does not settle individual complaints but uses feedback to monitor services and plan assessments. People should complain to the provider first.
Where can someone complain if they are unhappy with the agency’s response?
They can ask for an internal review, and may be able to complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. People can also give feedback to CQC, and raise safeguarding concerns with the local authority.
Can a care worker receive a complaint at a visit?
Yes. People must be able to complain to any member of staff, so care workers need to know to record it and pass it to the office, and to try to resolve small issues on the spot where they can.
How long must I keep complaints records?
CQC requires you to keep a record of all complaints, outcomes and actions but does not set one retention period. Follow your data retention policy and the relevant guidance.