Compliments, concerns & complaints policy

Policy owner: Sarah Pritchard, Head of Innovation and Inclusion

Last Reviewed and Updated:26.07.2021

Signed by Head of Innovation and Inclusion: S.Pritchard

A. Policy, awareness and principles

1. Policy Statement

SeeAbility welcomes feedback about the services it provides. This includes comments and compliments that help us to know when we are getting it right. However we also want to hear when things go wrong as this helps us to make improvements.

SeeAbility recognises that a small concern if not addressed can develop into a complaint; which is why every concern raised regarding our services is taken seriously. SeeAbility will make sure that it recognises and responds to complaints and concerns sensitively, promptly and in a fair and consistent manner.

This document outlines how to raise a concern or complaint and how it will be addressed by SeeAbility, including the timescales within which certain actions must be taken. It also sets out how compliments may be received and recorded.

All SeeAbility employees will be familiar with this policy to enable them to respond appropriately to any concerns or complaints received.

2. Definitions

2.1. A compliment is an expression of praise, approval, admiration or respect.

2.2. A concern is an expression of dissatisfaction by a complainant or feedback regarding some aspect of service that identifies issues requiring a response. It is likely to be a minor issue, raised informally and easily resolved.

2.3. A complaint is a statement that something is unsatisfactory or unacceptable. This is likely to be a more serious issue that requires a formal approach.

2.4. A complainant is a person expressing a concern or complaint.

3. Concern or complaint?

The following descriptions should help define whether the issue being raised should be classified as a concern or complaint.

Concern

Minor in nature e.g. inadequate communication, inconsistency of service, an event with insignificant impact
Easily resolved by frontline staff
May be for information only, rather than requiring specific action

Complaint

Serious in nature e.g. neglect, abuse, financial mismanagement, lack of duty of candour
May require involvement of management or senior management
May have potential legal ramifications
A concern that has not been resolved and has been escalated
A concern that has been raised more than once previously (even if it was resolved)
Any issue received from a member of the public; or expressed formally or specifically as a complaint by the complainant

4. Who can complain?

4.1. Anyone who is receiving or has received a service from SeeAbility can express a concern or make a complaint.

4.2. A family member, advocate, friend, carer, other provider/professional or funding authority representative can also make known a concern or instigate a complaint on behalf of a person who uses the service and where possible this must be with their agreement. However, due to the complex needs of some individuals, in some circumstances, the above-mentioned persons may express a concern or instigate a complaint on the individual’s behalf, without their explicit agreement. Throughout this document these individuals are referred to as the complainant’s representative.

4.3. A staff member may make a complaint on behalf of a person who uses the service, however, if they have a complaint about how they are treated, this should be made within supervision meetings or via the appropriate HR policy/procedure e.g. grievance policy or respect & dignity at work policy.

5. The right to raise concerns or make complaints

5.1. It is acknowledged that some people will have difficulty in understanding any written or transcribed policy and procedure about making complaints. Staff will therefore regularly raise with individuals their right to address concerns, make complaints and compliments and how they can do this.

5.2. Staff should seek views about the service through: individual discussions and keyworker sessions; individual service reviews and group meetings.

5.3. Concerns, complaints and compliments will be a standing agenda item for keyworker sessions, meetings and reviews.

5.4. All efforts to raise awareness of this policy and procedure with the people we support and other stakeholders will be recorded, as appropriate, in meeting minutes/individual files. Any concerns or complaints arising from these discussions will be responded to in line with the procedure outlined below.

5.5. NHS England have been working to make feedback, raising concerns and making complaints about health and social care easier for people with a learning disability, autism or both, their families and carers. As part of their Ask, Listen, Do project they worked with partners including self advocacy groups to develop some helpful resources that are available via this link and may help in talking to people about their right to provide feedback, raise concerns and make complaints.

6. Principles

6.1. The following principles are to be upheld when responding to concerns/ complaints:

Complainants and those complained about will be treated respectfully.
Complaints will be treated confidentially and will be shared with others on a ‘need to know’ basis.
All people using SeeAbility services and their families will be made aware of the compliments, concerns & complaints policy and procedure upon commencement of services.
The compliments, concerns & complaints policy and procedure are available on request either from the service manager or central office at any time, and will be made available at the time of complaint.
Where a complaint indicates any safeguarding concerns or criminal activities, the investigating officer will relinquish responsibility to, or proceed under the direction of, the appropriate authority.
SeeAbility will make every effort to support or assist a complainant to follow and use the compliments, concerns & complaints procedure, and will provide details of advocacy services as appropriate to support this.
Complainants will be kept up to date on the progress of their concern or complaint and will be communicated in their primary language and preferred format.
Special attention will be paid to ethnic origin, culture, gender and any issues arising from the individual’s disability.
Where applicable, the subject (person named) will be informed of the concern or complaint against them and will have access to the compliments, concerns & complaints policy and procedure.
Investigations and responses to concerns or complaints will be carried out in a timely manner: concerns within 14 days and complaints within 28 days.

7. Scope

7.1. Concerns and complaints cover a wide range of matters; examples of which may include:

Lack of service.
Refusal to provide a service.
Delay in giving a service.
Poor quality of service.
The conduct/attitude of a person who uses the service, employee, casual worker, volunteer or other persons.
A decision by an employee.
Lack of involvement in a decision-making process.

7.2. Note – Any allegations of abuse (this may include verbal, emotional, physical, sexual, financial or racial abuse and acts of neglect or omission), will be dealt with in line with SeeAbility’s safeguarding adults at risk policy and the local authority’s safeguarding adults policy and procedure.

B. Procedure

The following is provided for the individual’s (or representative’s) information, so that they are aware of the procedure, which will be followed if they wish to make a compliment, express a concern or make a complaint.

1. Receiving a compliment

1.1. Compliments may be received from anyone: people we support, their relatives, other professionals, members of the public etc.

1.2. Compliments may come in a variety of forms e.g. a casual comment, formal thank you letter, public mention.

1.3. Compliments should be shared with staff during team or 1:1 meetings with any specific examples of related good practice highlighted.

2. Expressing a concern or complaint

2.1. A person we support and/or their representative may express their concern or complaint to any member of staff. This could be their ‘keyworker’, another member of staff, the Manager, or Regional Head of Operations.

2.2. If they prefer to discuss the matter with someone who is not directly involved in providing the service they may contact another Service Manager, Regional Head of Operations, Quality & Compliance Team, Operations Director or the Chief Executive.

3. Anonymous complaints

3.1. Where a complainant is not known it is acknowledged that there are difficulties investigating and addressing the complaint.

3.2. In these instances evidence should initially be gathered to support such a complaint prior to a full investigation taking place.

4. The process

4.1 Stage 1: Listening to and categorising the concern or complaint

4.1.1. It is important whenever a concern or complaint is raised that the recipient listens to the feedback provided, apologises for what the complainant feels/has experienced and agrees to look into the matter, make improvements and reduce the risk of something similar occurring again. The complainant should be thanked for bringing the matter to our attention and provided with information about how this will be addressed.

4.1.2. If a concern or complaint is received by a member of staff or Manager based at the service in question, they will take responsibility for logging the details and determining whether the issue should be treated as a concern or complaint. Any concern/complaint should be shared with the Manager and advice sought about how it should be addressed.

4.1.3. If a concern or complaint is received by a Regional Head of Operations or by a Manager not based at the service in question, this individual will take responsibility, or appoint an appropriate person, to address it. The person raising the concern or complaint will be informed of their point of contact.

4.2 Stage 2a: Addressing a concern

4.2.1. If the issue being raised has been categorised as a concern the staff member receiving the concern and/or the manager, with the individual/representative, will seek to investigate and resolve the concern within 14 days.

4.2.2. If the individual/representative is satisfied that the concern has been addressed and resolved, the matter will conclude at this stage, with the concern and outcome being recorded in the log of concerns.

4.2.3. However if the individual/representative is not satisfied that the concern has been resolved and wish for the complaint to be formally investigated they can move to Stage 2b of the concern and complaints procedure. In this instance it should be recorded in the log of concerns that the concern has been escalated to a complaint. The details of the complaint will then be recorded on a complaints investigation form.

4.2.4. Stage 2a will not be used if the issue has been categorised as a complaint or the complainant makes a direct request for a formal investigation into their complaint or when a written complaint is received. In these instances the procedure will commence at Stage 2b.

4.3 Stage 2b: Addressing a complaint

4.3.1. It will be the responsibility of a Regional Head of Operations to address complaints or to appoint an appropriate investigating officer.

4.3.2. On receipt of a complaint the Regional Head of Operations will make a record on the central log of complaints.

4.3.3. Details of who is managing and who is investigating the complaint will be made known to all appropriate persons.

4.3.4. If a complaint has been made, the Funding Authority will be informed. Note: some Funding Authorities set out specific procedures and requirements about reporting of complaints - please ensure you check and operate in accordance with any agreed protocols.

4.3.5. It may also be appropriate to inform family or next of kin. This decision will be made in consultation with the person who uses the service (where possible) or their representative.

4.3.6. Serious complaints may require the involvement of external agencies or initiation of the disciplinary procedure.

4.3.7. The Chief Executive must be informed when the complaint may relate to a criminal offence. The police will also be informed as appropriate and a statutory notification submitted to CQC about an “Incident reported to or investigated by the police. A blank notification form can be downloaded from CQC website.

4.3.8. When a complaint alleges that abuse has taken place, the allegation will be reported and will be addressed according to SeeAbility’s safeguarding adults at risk policy and the local authority’s safeguarding vulnerable adults policy and procedure.

4.3.9. If the outcome of such a complaint leads to suspension or dismissal of an employee/volunteer and meets the legal conditions this will be reported to the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS).

4.3.10. If the individual/representative withdraws the complaint at any stage this must be recorded and where possible signed by the individual/representative.

4.3.11. When addressing the complaint, the Regional Head of Operations should consider and respond appropriately to the need for support by the complainant (and others) during the investigation process. They also will ensure that all parties concerned are aware of:

the details of the complaint
the procedure to be followed in investigating the complaint
timescales for investigating the complaint and advising the outcome
the names and details of contact persons
the outcome/resolution of the complaint

4.4 Stage 3: Investigating the complaint

4.4.1. The Regional Head of Operations or appointed investigating officer will:

offer the individual/representative an appointment to discuss the complaint in more detail with meeting information being recorded using a complaint investigation form; and
conduct interviews with any witnesses and/or implicated employees/volunteers or others and write up their responses in a manner which would not breach confidentiality.

4.4.2. Individuals/representatives may be accompanied during the investigatory interview by a friend, advocate or other appropriate person.

4.4.3. If the initial timescale suggested cannot be met due to extenuating circumstances e.g. when other agencies need to be involved, this will be communicated to all parties.

4.4.4. The investigation should be recorded on the complaint investigation form to include details of the complaint, investigation methods and the outcome.

4.4.5. The investigation report must include the investigating officer’s recommendations in dealing with the outcome of the complaint, including any actions required to make improvements.

4.5 Stage 4: Determining and communicating the outcome

4.5.1. The investigating officer will inform the Regional Head of Operations of the investigation and provide copies of the completed complaints form and the complaints investigation form. This information will be shared as appropriate with the Operations Director but as a minimum an electronic copy will be available on a secure, shared network drive.

4.5.2. The Regional Head of Operations will determine the response to be made to the individual/representative which will be in writing, and in any other appropriate format, and will include:

the allegation investigated
the scope of the investigation
the conclusion (including reasons for the decision)
recommendations or further action (other than the outcome of a disciplinary proceeding)
the right to further review (if requested formally by the complainant within 28 days of the outcome being made known)
the right to address the complaint externally if they are not satisfied with the outcome

4.5.3. The individual/representative may request to meet the Regional Head of Operations to discuss the outcome further.

4.5.4. Once the complainant has been informed of the investigation outcome the Regional Head of Operations will ensure that all other parties involved in the investigation are made aware of the outcome. The investigating officer/Regional Head of Operations will complete the outcome section of the complaint investigation form to confirm that the outcome has been appropriately communicated and to record if the complainant is satisfied with the outcome or wishes to take further action. A copy of this form will be held on file.

4.5.5. The Service Manager will complete a summary record on the log of compliments, concerns and complaints and the completed complaint investigation form should be sent to the Head of Innovation and Inclusion.

4.5 Stage 5: Dissatisfaction with the outcome

4.6.1. If the individual/representative is unhappy with the outcome of the investigation or feel that the complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily they can request that it is reviewed by the Operations Director or Chief Executive.

4.6.2. The individual/representative must make a request for a review within 28 days of the date they were informed of the outcome of the original investigation.

4.6.3. Additionally, if the individual/representative feels that the complaint has not been satisfactorily dealt with, or at any time, they may address their complaint with any of the organisations outlined in Section 4 below.

5. Complaints about SeeAbility to external agencies

SeeAbility encourages individuals/their representatives to address any concerns or complaints directly so we can work together to address them and improve the service. However, if an individual or their representative is unhappy with our response they may address a complaint about the service they receive from SeeAbility using the complaints procedure of the relevant organisations below:

5.1. Local Authority, Health Authority, Clinical Commissioning Group

This is the Local Authority, Health Authority or Clinical Commissioning Group that fund the service the person receives from SeeAbility.

5.2. The Local Government Ombudsman

Telephone: 0300 061 0614
Text ‘call back’ to 0762 481 1595
On Line: Making a complaint

The Local Government Ombudsman looks at complaints about councils and some other authorities and organisations, such as adult social care providers. It is a free service and can be accessed if the person self funds or has council funding for the service received from SeeAbility. Their job is to investigate complaints in a fair and independent way.

5.3. Charity Commission

5.3.1. The Charity Commission can be contacted online

5.3.2. The Charity Commission is the regulator for charities in England & Wales and will encourage complainants to first raise their concern with the charity.

5.3.3. The Charity Commission will only investigate complaints that fall into their remit which is outlined “if there is a serious risk that the charity or the people it was set up to help will come to harm.

5.3.4. Serious issues include:

a charity losing lots of money
serious harm coming to the people the charity helps
criminal or illegal activity
terrorist activity
a charity set up for illegal or improper purposes
a person or an organisation receiving significant financial benefit from a charity
a charity not following charity law, with damaging consequences to its reputation and the public’s trust in charities generally

5.4. The Care Quality Commission (CQC)

5.4.1. The CQC is the regulator for adult social care services in England and their job is to check that care homes and care services are meeting national standards.

5.4.2. The CQC do not handle individual complaints and advise complainants that they should in the first instance address their complaint with the provider.

5.4.3. However whilst CQC cannot respond to individual complaints they welcome feedback about services, will listen to what is said and will use this information to help them:

spot problems or concerns in care
plan national and local activities, known as reviews and studies, that focus on health and social care patterns around the country
make decisions on whether a service should be able to operate
monitor services, particularly whether they are meeting the fundamental standards
look at whether commissioners are referring the correct services to people

Find information about how you can share your experience with CQC.

C. Recording and monitoring

1. Recording

1.1. Accurate records of concerns, complaints and the investigatory process must be maintained and should be held securely due to the sensitive/confidential nature of the content.

1.2. All compliments regardless of their source, format or topic should be recorded in the compliments tab of the compliments, concerns and complaints log by the person who receives the compliment. This includes compliments received for carrying out day to day responsibilities.

1.3. Each location has a log of compliments, concerns and complaints noting those resolved at this stage and those progressing into a complaint for further investigation.

1.4. Complaints that commence at Stage 2b of the procedure will not be recorded in the log of concerns.

1.4.1 The log of concerns will record:

Concerns raised specifically and addressed through this policy and procedure as outlined in Stage 2a; and
Any and all concerns raised, discussed and resolved informally without specific reference to this policy and procedure. It is important that all staff acknowledge that people expressing concerns do not always formally request that they are recorded as such or regard them as ‘concerns’ or ‘complaints’.

1.4.2 The log of compliments, concerns and complaints will be kept in a secure location as it may contain personal or sensitive data. Individuals/representatives may however record concerns via discussion with any staff member.

1.4.3. The manager will view the log on a monthly basis to ensure all concerns are promptly addressed and is responsible for ensuring that appropriate action has been taken.

1.4.4. A log of concerns without entries over a significant period of time should prompt the manager to check that people we support/their representatives are aware of their right and how to raise concerns and that all staff are familiar with the process and recording requirements.

1.5. All complaints will be recorded on a complaint investigation form. This form together with the written determination of the outcome of the investigation will be held in the complaints file and referenced on the files of the person who uses the service and staff member concerned as applicable. The manager will enter summary information into the log of compliments, concerns and complaints.

1.6. At the front of the complaints file, the manager will keep a summary log of complaints received and their outcomes.

1.7. It is important where a complaint has been investigated by someone away from the service location that these records are held on file at the service or as appropriate a record made of where/how these records can be accessed.

1.8. When complaints are not upheld, this will be clearly recorded with the information held within the complaints file.

2. Monitoring

2.1. The manager should review the compliments, concerns and complaints log on a monthly basis to ensure that compliments have been recognised and positive feedback provided to staff as appropriate.

2.2. The service manager will monitor the summary log of compliments, concerns and complaints monthly to supervise actions taken and on a quarterly basis for trend analysis.

2.3. The service manager will undertake an annual review of all concerns and complaints and use this information, involving individuals/representatives as appropriate, to determine consequent changes or improvements to the service.

2.4. The Regional Head of Operations and auditors carrying out quality & compliance audits will view and sign the log of compliments, concerns and complaints on a periodic basis.

2.5. The Regional Head of Operations will complete the central log of complaints on a monthly basis to reflect the nature of the complaint and the outcome, to enable trend analysis and learning across the organisation. This information will be reviewed on a quarterly and annual basis by the Operations Management Group.