Complaints Procdure

Policy: Complaints, comments and suggestions policy and procedure 

Updated: February 2023

Next Review: February 2025

Author: Angela Dias 

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1. Introduction

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1.1    HAD Is committed to providing high quality services to all of our clients, and to treating everyone whom we come in contact with well, and fairly, at all times.

1.2    If you feel that that has not happened, you have the right to make a complaint.   We welcome complaints, suggestions and comments as they offer us a chance to improve services.  Your complaint or suggestion may well improve things for everyone. And if we’re doing something right, it’s good to know!

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2.     How to make a comment or suggestion

 

2.1    If you want to make a comment or give us a suggestion about a service you can tell a staff member you may know, or the relevant HAD manager.  If the suggestion is about anything other than the services we currently provide, contact the CEO/ Development Lead, who will know the best person for you to take your idea to.  

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3.    What is a complaint?

 

3.1    A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction with something that has happened (or maybe hasn´t happened, but should have) The purpose of this procedure is to enable people using HAD’s services or taking part in its activities to be heard when they feel things have gone wrong.

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4.    Making complaints

 

4.1    Where there is a complaint, HAD wants to find out what has happened and to put right any mistakes we might have made as quickly as possible.

4.2    HAD recognises that making a complaint can be very difficult for some people, and we will always investigate and deal with complaints in a sensitive and appropriate way.

4.3    You can make an anonymous complaint, but please remember if you do, we won't be able to give you any feedback, and might not be able to investigate properly as it will be hard for us to get enough information.

4.4    You can also use someone to advocate for you, if you wish, just let us know who you would like to help you.

4.5    If you want to make a complaint, we have included a complaints form, which might make it easier for you to describe your complaint, and we would prefer you to use it, if possible, because it asks for all the information which we would need to properly investigate your complaint.  However, we are aware that this might be difficult for some people, and you can tell us about your suggestion, comment or complaint by phone, email or by letter if that works better for you.  

4.6    We will always take steps to make things better, and where possible we would prefer to improve things rather than being punitive as to how we deal with things.  

4.7    Every effort will be made to ensure that the person(s) involved in carrying out any investigation of a complaint will be impartial and that they will follow the rules laid down in the complaints procedure to ensure that justice is achieved in an objective way and confidentiality maintained to the greatest degree possible.  (There may be certain circumstances where a disclosure needs to be made – please see HAD´s GDPR Policy which details these).

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5.    Time Limit for Complaints to be Considered

 

5.1    HAD has a time limit on when a complaint can be made to the organisation.  The complaint must be submitted for investigation within 6 months of the incident/matter arising.  After this time period, it is unlikely that HAD will be in a position to be able to fully investigate the matter.  There will be times when even that period is too long for us to effectively gather evidence, however, within that timescale, we will always try.  

5.2    If the complaint involves reporting a very serious matter that could constitute a legal issue or justify legal action; then the time in which the complaint is submitted to HAD is not limited.

5.3    If you remain unhappy with the outcome of the investigation and wish to take it to the next level of the Complaint’s process, this must be done within 2 weeks of receiving a response; following the first level of HAD’s Complaint’s process.

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6.    How to make a Complaint

 

6.1    There are four levels of complaint:

• Informal

• Formal

• Appeal

• Complaint to an organisation outside of HAD  

 

6.2    Informal

You can approach the person whose action you are not happy with, or their manager if you are not comfortable to talk to the person directly.  They may be able to deal with the complaint on the spot.  The person you´ve mentioned it to must make a record of what you have said, and what they did, and whether you´re happy with that, then they must send that record to the senior manager for their part of the service.  

 

6.3    Formal 

6.3.1    If the complaint isn’t dealt with to your satisfaction, or the nature of the complaint is such that you don’t feel it is appropriate to complain to the person you have a complaint against, then HAD will record the complaint and the procedures outlined in Level two should be followed.

6.3.2    You should contact the manager of the person whose action you´re not happy with and say you want to make a formal complaint.  You will need to give a clear explanation about what happened, and it needs to be written down by yourself, or someone who is helping you to make the complaint, such as a friend or advocacy worker, or it can be recorded.  You will also need to give your contact details so that they can follow this up with you.

6.3.3    The manager will come back to you to say that they have received the complaint within 48 hrs.

6.3.4The manager will then investigate, ensuring that everyone gets a chance to 

record their side of what happened.

6.3.5    The person who is investigating will come back to you with a reply and a suggestion how to resolve the complaint, within 2 weeks, unless there is a reason why the complaint cannot be investigated (eg. the person being complained about may be on holiday).  If this is the case, the person investigating your complaint will contact you and tell you a new timescale, and will then get back to you with a reply within the new date given.

6.3.6    If a HAD staff member/volunteer is the subject of the complaint they have the right to ask for support from a staff representative or non-legal companion.  

6.3.7    The investigation will identify the events and issues leading up to and including the circumstances of the complaint, and will be compiled into a written report. This will be kept on an electronic file, along with all other written records and correspondence relating to the investigation.

6.3.8    If HAD’s Chief Executive/ Development Lead is the subject of the complaint; it should be made in writing to the Chair of the Board of Trustees. In this case, the Chair will arrange the investigation and a Board Member will conduct it.

6.3.9    The person conducting the investigation should not otherwise be involved in any way with the complaint.

 

6.4    Appeal

6.4.1    If you are not happy with the response to the complaint, you can appeal in writing, (or other means of communication e.g. tape recording for people who cannot read or write) stating reasons.  Your appeal will be dealt with by two managers (or board members) who are senior to the manager who previously investigated, they are the investigating ´panel´.

The panel will meet with you and examine the appeal within 10 working days. 

6.4.2    As before, clients may have help from a friend, family member or advocacy worker to take the complaint, and any staff member being investigated may have help from a friend or non-legal representative.

6.4.3    The panel will consider any evidence provided, and any concerns about how the matter has been dealt with, and may call witnesses to provide evidence.  If this means it takes longer to investigate, you will be told this and how long it is expected to take.  

6.4.4    The panel will then meet to decide whether the response was appropriate, and may make recommendations for further action if necessary. The panel will tell you of their decision in writing within five working days of the meeting and their decision will be final.  HAD will not carry out any more investigation into the matter.

 

6.5    Complaining outside of HAD

6.5.1    If you are unhappy with the final response, there are organisations outside of HAD whom you can ask to investigate further.   Where a service is funded by an external organisation, you can complain to that body, and you will be provided with the details to do so on request. 

 

 

 7.    Complaints form (Please Answer the Questions Below)

 

Date of complaint:

 

Nature of complaint:

 

Details of person making the complaint

(i.e. name and contact details)

 

Please tell us what happened 

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Which part of what happened are you complaining about?

 

What would you like us to do, if our investigation finds that the complaint is correct?