COMPLAINTS POLICY
Policy lead:
Associate Director, Corporate Governance
Ratifying Committee /
Group:
Board of Directors
Status of policy:
Policy Reference:
Signed:
Approval date:
____________________________________________
Dame Ruth Runciman, Chair
____________________________________________
Essential reading for the following staff groups:
1 - Complaints Teams
2 - Service Directors
3 - Service Managers
4 - Lead Nurses
5 - Team Managers
6 - Ward Managers
Following staff groups should be aware exists for
references purposes:
1 - All staff
Complaints Policy (Overarching) [01.0.4]
POLICY
IMPLEMENTATION
DATE:
May 2012
DATE POLICY TO
BE REVIEWED
May 2014
1
Contents
1.
Key Points .......................................................................................................... 3
2.
Purpose and Scope ........................................................................................... 3
3.
Responsibilities ................................................................................................. 3
4
Definitions used ................................................................................................. 4
5
Policy .................................................................................................................. 5
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
Action on receipt of a complaint
Information on complaints
Reporting Structure
Training
6
Monitoring compliance & effectiveness ........................................................... 6
7
Consultation ............................................................................................... 6
8
References ........................................................................................................ 6
APPENDICES
Appendix A
Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessment Form
Complaints Policy (Overarching) [01.0.4]
2
1
Key points
1.
This policy applies to all complaints received across the Trust, either in respect of
an individual’s care and treatment, or a member of the public affected by a
decision of the Trust.
2.
It identifies the key staff involved in the process and their roles.
3.
This policy will be applied without discrimination, harassment or victimisation of
employee or service user or member of the public in line with the Trust’s Equality
Diversity and Human Rights policies.
4.
The detailed operational procedures can be accessed as follows:
2

Camden Provider Services (CPS) (hyperlink),

CNWL Mental Health Services & Hillingdon Community Health (CNWL
Mental Health Services & HCH) (hyperlink).
Purpose and scope
This document details procedures in the event of a complaint being received and
identifies key persons in the process.
3
Responsibilities
Party/person
Chief Executive
Associate Director,
Corporate
Governance or
equivalent
Head of Patient &
Public Involvement,
Engagement
Manager or
equivalent
Key responsibilities
The Chief Executive is responsible for ensuring compliance
with the arrangements under the Complaints Regulations
and in particular ensuring that follow up action is taken
where necessary.
The Associate Director, Corporate Governance or equivalent
is responsible for ensuring complaints are handled in line
with the procedures and statutory regulations as applicable.
The Head of Patient & Public Involvement or equivalent will
receive reports on the day to day activities of the
management of complaints.
Complaints Policy (Overarching) [01.0.4]
3
Roles of CPS
Patient Support
Manager,
Complaints and
Litigation Manager
These staff will have day to day responsibility for the
implementation of the complaints policy and related
procedures across the Trust.
They will monitor attainment of targets and train other staff in
the use of the Complaints Procedure.
They will produce reports on complaints to aid learning
across the Trust.
They will feed information back into the services for local
discussions.
They will provide support to staff investigating complaints
and to staff named in complaints in line with the Policy on
providing support to staff involved in serious incidents,
complaints and claims.
Complaints
Department /
Patient Support
Department
The Departments provide the day to day handling of formal
complaints, from receipt, through investigation to response in
line with the Complaints Procedure.
All written complaints ( ie formal complaints) must be
forwarded to the Complaints Departments at Trust HQ (for
CNWL Mental Health Services & HCH) and to the Patient
Support Department at Bedford House (for CPS) who will
register and acknowledge them within 3 working days.
4
Service Directors
and Service
Managers
Service Directors and Managers will have overall
responsibility for complaints raised about the services they
manage.
All staff
All staff should follow this policy, and co-operate with any
investigations in which they are named or about which they
can provide information about.
Definitions used
What is a complaint?
An expression of dissatisfaction which requires a response.
Types of complaints:
Formal or Written complaint – On receipt these should be forwarded to the
Complaints Department (CNWL) or Patient Support Department (CPS), as
appropriate, for registering and handling under the Complaints Procedure.
Complaints Policy (Overarching) [01.0.4]
4
Informal or Verbal complaint – Should be dealt with by the member of staff
receiving the complaint, if appropriate, or handed over to a member of staff who
can deal with it.
If staff with whom the complaint is raised, or handed over to, cannot resolve it,
the complaint should be referred to PALS (CNWL Mental Health Services &
HCH) or Patient Support Department (CPS) for resolution.
If at any time the complainant states he or she is making a formal complaint,
details should be taken down and accuracy confirmed with the complainant, and
the complaint forwarded to the appropriate complaints team responsible for
registering it.
Exclusions:
Complaints from staff about problems in the workplace - Please refer to the
relevant HR policies on Staff Grievances and Whistle Blowing.
Complaints Regulations:
This refers to The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service
Complaints (England) Regulations 2009
5
Policy
5.1
Action on receipt of a complaint
Complaints are investigated in line with the applicable policy - CNWL Mental
Health Services & Hillingdon Community Health Complaints Procedure
(Appendix B) or Camden Provider Service Complaints Procedure (Appendix C),
as relevant.
5.2
Information on complaints
A record of all complaints received will be held on the Trust’s Datix database.
5.3
Reporting structure
Information on complaints received will be submitted by the Complaints and
Litigation Manager and Patient Support Manager to the Organisational Learning
Group at least twice yearly. An annual report will also be produced. In addition,
reports will be produced on an as required basis to staff such as Business
Managers across the Trust.
The substantive PALS report will report on informal complaints and learning from
those issues.
5.4
Training
Complaints Policy (Overarching) [01.0.4]
5
Training will be delivered in line with the Trust’s Training Needs Analysis by the
Complaints and Litigation Manager (CNWL MHS & HCH), and the Patient
Support Manager (CPS). For details of the training programmes please refer to
the Trust’s Training Directory. One off training sessions will also be provided
where booked directly with the Complaints and Litigation Manager (CNWL MHS
& HCH) or Patient Support Manager (CPS).
6
Monitoring compliance & effectiveness
Staff should refer to the respective procedures for guidance on monitoring:
 Complaints Policy for Mental Health and Learning Disability and Hillingdon
Community Health
 Camden Provider Services Complaints and Raising Concerns Procedure
7
Consultation
Complaints Teams, HCH Governance Team, CPS Governance Team, Borough
LINKs, Mental Health User Groups, Advocacy Services. Of the external groups,
thanks to Harrow and Hillingdon LINKs which responded.
8
References

The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints
(England) Regulations 2009, Department for Health (2009)

A guide to better customer care, Department of Health, February (2009)

Principles of Good Complaint Handling, Parliamentary and Health Service
Ombudsman (2008)
Complaints Policy (Overarching) [01.0.4]
6