Our report ‘Reviewing the case: The right to appeal in adult social care’ shines a light on a neglected but crucial aspect of adult social care: how people can challenge decisions about the care and support they receive. While the Government has previously acknowledged the importance of a robust appeals system for adult social care and consulted on this in 2015, no response to the consultation has been published to date.
New Freedom of Information research for this report confirms that as few as one in five local authorities have put in place a separate appeals process, with the majority instead relying on a complaints process which can be unfit for purpose. We are calling on the Government to introduce a statutory appeals process for adult social care and our report discusses the clear advantages this system would offer.