Complaints about an accredited consultant
Accreditation is only worth something if it can be withdrawn. This page explains how we handle a complaint, what we can and cannot look at, and what happens at each stage. The complaint is considered by someone independent of the consultant concerned.
Go to the complaint formSafeguarding escalation
If someone is at immediate risk of harm, contact the police, the local authority safeguarding team and the relevant regulator first. ACC is not an emergency service, has no statutory powers and cannot intervene in the care of an individual. Where a complaint to us discloses a risk of harm, we will report it to the appropriate safeguarding authority and regulator without waiting for the outcome of our own process, and we will tell you that we have done so.
Who can complain
Anyone who has been affected by the conduct of an accredited consultant may complain: a care provider or its directors, a registered manager, a member of staff, a person using a service or their family, a commissioner, another consultant, or a regulator. You do not need to have paid the consultant. Complaints made on someone else's behalf are accepted where they consent, or where they cannot act for themselves.
We ask for your name and contact details because a consultant must be given a fair opportunity to answer what is said about them. We will not share your identity more widely than that process requires.
What ACC can investigate
- Breaches of the ACC Code of Conduct by an accredited consultant
- Prohibited claims, such as guaranteeing registration or an inspection rating
- Misrepresented qualifications, experience or relationships with a regulator
- Advice given outside the specialisms a consultant is accredited for
- Misuse of the ACC accreditation seal or of accredited status
- Failure to agree fees, scope or terms transparently before work began
- Confidentiality or data protection failures in the course of an engagement
- Conduct that calls into question a consultant's suitability to remain on the register
- Complaints about ACC's own handling of an application, decision or enquiry
What ACC cannot investigate
- Contract or fee disputes as a legal matter — we cannot award compensation, order refunds or enforce a contract
- The quality or safety of a care service itself — that is for the provider, the commissioner and the regulator
- Employment or HR disputes between a consultant and a provider or its staff
- Complaints about consultants who are not, and never were, accredited by ACC
- Decisions made by the CQC, Care Inspectorate, CIW or RQIA
- Matters already before a court, tribunal or the police, until those proceedings conclude
- Anonymous allegations we cannot put to the consultant fairly
How to submit a complaint
Where it is safe and reasonable, raise the matter with the consultant first — many concerns are misunderstandings about scope or timescales. If that does not resolve it, or the concern is serious, use the secure form on this page. You will receive a reference number and an email confirmation.
Evidence required
- • The consultant's name, company and the service they were engaged for
- • Dates, and a factual account of what happened
- • Any written scope, proposal, contract or fee agreement
- • Reports, audits or documents the consultant produced, where relevant
- • Correspondence showing what you raised with them and how they replied
- • Where a claim is disputed, the advertising or wording you relied on
- • What outcome you are seeking
Please redact information about individual people receiving care unless it is essential to the complaint. Do not send original documents you cannot replace.
Expected response times
- Acknowledgement
- 5 working days
- Triage decision
- 10 working days
- Consultant response requested
- 14 days to reply
- Conclusion
- Normally 20 working days
- Appeal window
- 28 days from the decision
- Appeal response
- 21 days
Complex complaints can take longer. Where they do, we will tell you why and give a revised date.
Possible outcomes
- No breach found, with our reasons explained to both parties
- Concern upheld in part, with written guidance to the consultant
- Required remedial action, such as a correction, changed wording or specific development
- Conditions placed on accreditation
- Suspension of accreditation while matters are put right
- Removal from the register
- Referral elsewhere where another body is the right decision maker
Appeal and review
Either party may ask for a review within 28 days of the decision, setting out the grounds and enclosing anything new. Reviews are carried out by someone who was not involved in the original decision, and we aim to respond within 21 days. A review may confirm, vary or overturn the original outcome. Where a consultant has been suspended or removed, that remains in effect while the appeal is considered unless we decide otherwise. The review decision is final within the ACC process; it does not affect your right to pursue other remedies.
Confidentiality
Complaints are handled confidentially. Your complaint and any documents you send are stored securely, seen only by the people reviewing the case, and shared with the consultant only to the extent needed for them to answer it fairly. We keep an internal record of every action taken on a case.
ACC does not publish allegations against consultants. Nothing about an open complaint appears on a public profile or verification page. What is public is the register itself: if accreditation is suspended or withdrawn, the verification page shows that status. We publish no allegation, no complaint detail and no complainant information.
When concerns may be referred elsewhere
Some matters belong with another body, and we will refer them — telling you where, unless doing so would put someone at risk:
- • Risk of harm or abuse — the local authority safeguarding team and the police
- • Concerns about a regulated care service — the Care Quality Commission, Care Inspectorate, CIW or RQIA
- • Data protection breaches — the Information Commissioner's Office
- • Conduct regulated by another professional body, such as the NMC, HCPC or Social Work England
- • Suspected fraud or criminal conduct — the police or Action Fraud
- • Employment matters — ACAS or an employment tribunal
Referring a matter elsewhere does not necessarily end our own review of a consultant's conduct, but we may pause it while another body is acting.
Complaints are assessed against the ACC Code of Conduct in force at the time of the conduct complained of.