Service Standards

1. We will ensure that our service is accessible to all.

This means that we will:

• Not charge for our service
• Be customer focused
• Understand your needs
• Guide you through the complaint process
• If appropriate, direct you to another organisation which may help

2. We will communicate effectively with you.

This means that we will:

• Treat you courteously, respectfully and with dignity
• Communicate with you by your preferred method where possible
• Explain our role to you
• Let you know what we can and cannot do
• Explain our process for handling complaints
• Keep you regularly updated of the progress of your complaint and  timescales
• Provide you with contact details for the member of staff dealing with your complaint
• Provide accurate information, in plain and clear language

3. We will ensure that you receive a professional service from us.

This means that we will:

• Ensure staff have relevant knowledge, training and skills to determine complaints, or access to suitable professional advice
• Deal with complaints in a timely manner
• Provide appropriate remedies for any faults we identify
• Promote wider learning and improvement
• Keep accurate records, and hold data securely
• Where necessary, share information appropriately
• Follow our processes for considering complaints about us, and acknowledge and apologise for any mistakes we make
• Seek and use feedback to improve our service

4. We will be fair in our dealings with you.

This means that we will:

• Work with you without discrimination or prejudice
• Make decisions on the basis of the relevant evidence
• Explain the reasons for our decisions
• Explain how to challenge our decisions
• Explain our approach to unacceptable behaviour

5. We will operate in a transparent way.

This means that we will:

• Publish details of our most senior members of staff and the rules under which we operate
• Have procedures to deal with any conflict of interest in handling complaints
• Be open with you about the investigation
• Publish lessons learned from complaints
• Provide information about our approach to handling complaints about us
• Explain to you what we can do if the body does not implement our recommendations