Registers · Responsive
Complaints register
Regulation 16 requires providers to have an accessible system for receiving, recording, handling and responding to complaints. A complaints register is how you show that system works — every complaint logged, investigated, answered and learned from, including informal concerns raised in passing.
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Last reviewed: 30 September 2026. Independent guidance from AJG Advisory — not official CQC guidance. Always check the official sources listed below for current requirements.
Who it applies to
All CQC-registered adult social care providers. People whose care is funded by a local authority, or who pay for their own care, can take unresolved complaints to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
What each entry should record
- Date received, who raised it and how
- What the complaint is about, in the complainant's words
- Date acknowledged
- Who investigated and what they found
- Outcome: upheld, partly upheld or not upheld
- Date of written response, including how to escalate to the Ombudsman
- Actions taken and lessons learned
- Whether it also raised a safeguarding concern
Why low numbers can be a warning
A register with no complaints for a year does not necessarily mean everyone is happy. Inspectors may ask how people know how to complain and whether informal concerns are captured. Recording minor concerns and compliments gives a truer picture.
Common findings
- Verbal concerns dealt with but never recorded
- Responses that do not explain how to escalate
- No link between complaints and changes to practice
- Complaints procedure not available in accessible formats
Internal audit questions
- 1.Is every complaint and concern recorded, including verbal ones?
- 2.Were complaints acknowledged and answered within your policy timescales?
- 3.Did responses include how to escalate to the Ombudsman?
- 4.Were actions completed and lessons shared?
- 5.Is the complaints procedure accessible to the people you support?
Practical checklist
- Register reviewed monthly
- Open complaints chased against timescales
- Themes identified
- Actions tracked to completion
- Compliments recorded alongside
How MyCareCompliance can help
In MyCareCompliance, complaints are logged as improvement actions with 'Complaint' as the source, capturing the immediate response, root cause, corrective actions, evidence and a re-check date. Open complaint actions appear on the dashboard and in the governance report. There is no separate complaints module; the action log is the register.
Official sources
MyCareCompliance is founded by Jack Green, ACC Accredited Care Consultant, with over 10 years in adult social care and registered manager experience. Read Jack’s background.
See how the platform organises this work
Genuine product screenshots using demo data. Scores show internal assurance, not CQC ratings. Features vary by plan.
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Use MyCareCompliance to organise audits, actions, evidence and governance in one place. 7 days free, then from £24.99 per month for the whole organisation, inclusive of VAT. Features vary by plan.
MyCareCompliance does not guarantee a CQC rating or inspection outcome.