Dealing with Complaints

COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS

General Policy

It is our policy that all comments, suggestions and complaints are dealt with quickly and effectively.

We shall make every effort to provide the best possible service. However, there may be occasions when people are not happy with the service.

We recognise the right of all residents, relatives, representatives and members of staff to inform us of any problems or complaints they may have.

We are always looking to improve our services. All comments, suggestions or complaints regardless of how small they may appear will be treated seriously and used to improve the service offered. 

Our general policy is based on the requirements of The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009.

Principals and goals 

We are committed to the six principals of good practice in the management of complaints, as identified by the Health Services Ombudsman:

·            Getting it right

·            Being customer focused

·            Being open and accountable

·            Acting fairly and proportionately

·            Putting things right

·            Seeking continuous improvement

The goals of our complaints procedure are to:

·       take a flexible approach towards handling individual complaints which focuses on the needs and wishes of the people involved.

·        keep the procedure simple so that it is much easier for people to share experiences and for  service to respond

·        make sure that people’s experiences help to improve services

Making a Complaint

Complaints should be made within 12 months of the incident happening or of the person becoming aware of the incident, and can be made to the Local Authority / Care Quality Commission or the provider of the service.

The manager has been designated to manage complaints in the home.

All complaints will be acknowledged within 5 working days of receipt by our complaints manager, who will endeavour to respond within 20 working days.

Every effort will be made by the complaints manager to assist the complainant with the complaints procedure and by our service to rectify and learn from the complaint.

On completion of the investigation, the complaints manager will make arrangements to discuss with the complainant the outcome of the investigation: how it has been resolved, what actions were taken or are to be taken and will remind of the right to take the complaint to the Care Quality Commission or Local Government Ombudsman.

Where the complainant chooses to seek the help of the commissioner or the Care Quality Commission, the service will make every effort to work in conjunction with these agencies to arrive at a satisfactory resolution.

If the home cannot rectify the complaint to the complainant’s satisfaction, the complainant may at any stage contact the Care Quality Commission.

The manager will seek the comments of the Care Quality Commission before implementing this policy.