Complaints and Compliments Policy

1. ABOUT THIS POLICY

1.1 Carers’ Support East Kent is committed to the improvement of its services and welcomes all feedback, whether positive or negative, to help with this process.

1.2 This policy covers how anyone who is dissatisfied with any aspect of services provided by Carers’ Support East Kent can tell us by making a complaint.

1.3 This policy outlines the steps that we will take when a complaint or a compliment is received.

2. COMPLIMENTS

2.1 If you feel that you have received a level of service that is worthy of praise and want to bring this to our attention, we encourage you to tell us.

2.2 Examples of when you might feel this way might be when a member of staff or a volunteer has exceeded your expectations, or a service you have received has made a positive difference to you.

3. HOW TO COMPLIMENT US

3.1 There are various ways that you can give us a compliment. You could speak to one of our staff or volunteers in person and ask them to feed your comments back to us on your behalf. Alternatively, you can contact us by phone, email, by post, or by filling out our easy to use online form using the details below.

Write to us:-
Carers’ Support East Kent
Innovation House
Discovery Park
Ramsgate Road
Sandwich
Kent CT13 9ND

Complete an online feedback form:
www.carersek.org.uk/about/have-your-say/

Phone us:  0300 302 0061

Email us:
compliments@carersek.org.uk

4. COMPLAINTS

4.1 If you feel that the level of service you have received was unsatisfactory, we want you to tell us.

4.2 Examples of when you feel this way might be when you felt you were not treated equitably or with respect, or if you feel that we failed to so something that we said we would do, or that we should have done.

5. HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT

5.1 Complaints will always be taken seriously and will be dealt with in a confidential manner.

5.2 We provide a Five Stage process for making a complaint to us. This is so that we can respond to your complaint quickly and show you that we aim to be able to show you that your complaint has been resolved appropriately

Stage One – Discuss with one of our team members to resolve the issue.

We would hope that in the first instance we will be able to resolve any issues that you may have at the earliest opportunity by discussion. Contact us by phone, or face-to-face by speaking directly to a staff member so that we can give you an immediate response. In most cases this is the best and quickest way to raise your complaint and gives us the opportunity to respond quickly.

Phone us: 0300 302 0061

Stage Two – Make a formal complaint

If you have followed Stage One (above) and are not satisfied with our response, or you are certain that you wish / need to make a formal complaint, please do contact us by phone, email, by post, or by filling out our online Feedback form, alerting us to the fact that you are wishing to make a formal complaint to us:-

Phone us:  0300 302 0061

Email us: complaints@carersek.org.uk

Complete an online feedback form:

https://carersek.org.uk/about/have-your-say/

Write to us:-
Carers’ Support East Kent
Innovation House
Discovery Park
Ramsgate Road
Sandwich
Kent CT13 9ND

A complaint can be accepted in any form – face to face, by email, in writing, by phone, or by filling out our online feedback form.

5.3 When providing us with information relating to your complaint, please help us by providing the following information:-

  • A clear and brief description of what happened.
  • Evidential facts such as dates, times, where, who, what.
  • The impact or consequences of our failure to meet your expectations or needs.
  • What you would like us to do.

5.4 We will always endeavour to consider the complainant’s individual circumstances and any specific communication needs that you may have so that we can assist you during the complaint process.

5.5 If the person making the complaint would like a family member or a friend to deal with the complaint on their behalf, then we are happy to put in place relevant security and confidentiality measures so that we can communicate fully with this nominated third person. This will be in the form of providing a password for a third party to use when contacting us, as well as asking them to answer specific security questions so that we know it is appropriate to proceed.

5.6 You will receive an acknowledgement within 3 working days of our receipt of your complaint and will be given the name and contact details of the person managing your complaint.  A response to your complaint will be received by you within 14 working days. Should it not be possible to resolve the issue within that time, you will receive an update about what has been done or is going to be done and the revised timescale.

5.7 If the complaint that you have made relates to how we have processed or used personal information that we hold about you – i.e. ‘data’ – your complaint will be managed by our Data Protection Lead in accordance with Data Protection (GDPR) procedures. The same timescales as per 5.7 above will apply.

Stage Three – Escalate your complaint to our Chief Executive Officer

If, after following stage One and/or Two (above) you remain dissatisfied with the outcome, we encourage you to contact the Chief Executive Officer.

5.8 We are only able to respond to Stage Three complaints if you have followed stages One and Two as above. This means that if you attempt to start the Complaints process at Stage Three you will be asked to go back to Stage Two before we can proceed.

Phone:  0300 302 0061

Explain that you wish to speak to our Chief Executive Officer regarding an unresolved complaint at Stage 3 of our Complaints process.

Email: CEO@carersek.org.uk

Or in writing and by post to:-

The Chief Executive Officer
Carers’ Support East Kent
Innovation House
Discovery Park
Ramsgate Road
Sandwich
Kent CT13 9ND

5.9 You will receive an acknowledgement within 5 working days and a response to your complaint within 14 working days. Should it not be possible for our Chief Executive Officer to resolve the issue within that time you will receive an update about what has been done or is going to be done and the revised timescale for this.

Stage Four – Escalate your complaint to the Chair of our Board of Trustees

If you are not satisfied with the outcome at Stage Three, you can contact the Chair of our Board of Trustees.

5.10 We are only able to respond to Stage Four complaints if you have followed all of the preceding stages as above.

Email: chair@carersek.org.uk

Or in writing to:-

Chair of the Board of Trustees
Carers’ Support East Kent
Innovation House
Discovery Park
Ramsgate Road
Sandwich
Kent CT13 9ND

Please do ensure the envelope is marked ‘Private and Confidential – URGENT’

5.11 You will receive an acknowledgement within 5 working days and a response to your complaint within 28 working days. Should it not be possible for our Chair to resolve your issue within that time, you will receive an update about what has been done or is going to be done and revised timescales.

Stage Five – Escalate your complaint to an external professional body

In the event you are not satisfied with the response to you from the Chair of the Board of Trustees, you can contact any of the professional bodies below.

You should quote our charity registration number within any correspondence:-

Carers’ Support East Kent – Registration number 1136904

The Charity Commission:-

Phone: (Monday to Friday) –  0300 066 9197

Online:  www.gov.uk/complain-about-charity

Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman

www.lgo.org.uk/contact-us

KCC Customer Care Department

Phone: 03000 41 04 10

Email: complaintsteamadults@kent.gov.uk

If your complaint relates to how we have processed or used personal information that we hold about you – i.e. ‘data’ – and you remain dissatisfied with our response you should refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

Phone: 0303 123 113

www.ico.org.uk

6. CONFIDENTIALITY, RECORD KEEPING AND DATA PROTECTION

6.1 All complaints are recorded on the Complaints Log held by Carers’ Support East Kent, detailing the following:-

  • Full details of the actual complaint and date received.
  • Responses and outcomes.
  • A record of any lessons learned or improvements made to the service as a result of the complaint.

6.2 All compliments that we receive are recorded and held by Carers’ Support East Kent.

6.3 All information from our Complaints log, compliments, and other feedback that we may receive is shared with our Board of Trustees.

6.4 We will share details of complaints with Kent County Council if this is required by our contractual obligations to them and is with regard to services provided by us for them.

6.5 All personal information will be processed in line with General Data Protection Regulations. (GDPR). This includes our responsibility to ensure that ensure personal information is accurate and up-to-date, is adequate and not excessive for the purpose, is only retained for as long as is necessary, and is kept secure.

6.6 Details of individuals who have been found to have behaved in an inappropriate or unreasonable way will be flagged on our record keeping database in order to alert staff and this record will be retained for as long as that individual remains in receipt of our service.

6.7 We recognise that individuals have the right to request a copy of their personal information held by us.

7. AWARENESS

Carer awareness in relation to this Policy is by the provision of written information in Carer information packs, and on our website. Copies of this Policy will always be made available to any party in request.