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