Complaints Procedure

Policy Summary

Policy Title: Complaints Procedure 
Policy Owner: Sarah Oakley 
Version number: 3.0 
Date Created: January 2022 
Last approved: August 2025 
Next review due: August 2026

Purpose

This policy outlines the process for managing complaints in a fair, transparent and timely manner. It ensures that individuals feel safe to raise concerns and that all complaints are used as opportunities for learning and service improvement. 

Scope

This policy applies to:
  • All staff members, volunteers, contractors and associates
  • Service users, their families, parents, legal guardians, carers and advocates
  • Any external stakeholders interacting with the service
  • Any individual affected by the care provided

Legal and regulatory framework

This policy supports compliance with: 
  • CQC Fundamental Standards 
  • Nursing and Midwifery Council Code 
  • GDPR 

Definitions

Complaint: An expression of dissatisfaction with any aspect of care or service 
Complainant: The person making the complaint 

Policy Statement

Sarah Oakley strives to provide the best possible service for our clients. However, sometimes you may feel that we have not met your needs.

If you have any complaint or concern about the service you have received you are entitled to ask for an explanation.

Complaints are dealt with in the first instance by Sarah Oakley in conjunction with advice from her indemnifier (Hiscox) and professional body (Royal College of Nursing). This procedure does not deal with matters of legal liability or compensation or regulation.

Sarah Oakley will:  
  • Listen to your complaint or concern. 
  • Respond by establishing a clear, appropriate plan of action, and provide you with relevant support and advice. 
  • Improve the service however possible.  

How to make your complaint

Any concerns can be raised initially directly during consultations or by phone. If your problem is not resolved in this way and you wish to make a complaint, please do so as soon as possible.

Please make your complaint in writing to Sarah Oakley by emailing sarah@nursingnurture.co.uk.

Please be assured that any complaint you make, written or verbal, will be treated in strict confidence and have no effect upon the level of treatment and care that you receive.

If you would prefer a family member, friend or advocate to make the complaint on your behalf, they may do so. However, whilst we can receive a complaint on your behalf, we cannot provide any medical information to a third party without your written consent.

What happens next?

Your complaint will be acknowledged within two working days of receiving it.

Sarah Oakley aims to make a full response to you within the next 20 working days. During that time an investigation will seek to find out what has happened and whether there is any action that can be taken to put things right.

Sarah Oakley will:
  • Make sure you receive an apology
  • Examine what has happened and what went wrong
  • Make it possible for you to discuss the problem face to face, if you would like this
  • Keep you informed of progress
  • Identify what we can do to make sure that problem does not happen again

Getting further help with your complaint

If you are unhappy with the outcome of your complaint you can seek further advice from the Nursing and Midwifery Council www.nmc.org.uk.

The CQC want you to tell them about your experiences of care. It helps them to decide when, where and what to inspect, and to take action to prevent poor care happening to others in future. CQC also want to hear about good experiences of care. However, it is important to know that CQC cannot make complaints for you or take them up on your behalf because as a regulator the CQC does not have powers to investigate or resolve them. You can contact the CQC by email enquiries@cqc.org.uk.

Training requirements

Sarah Oakley will undertake regular training in complaints handling and reflective practice. Complaints will be captured and reviewed regularly to support learning from compla

Monitoring and review

Complained will be logged and reviewed annually. Trends and outcomes will be used to improve service quality. This policy is reviewed annually or following significant changes to ensure effectiveness and continual improvement. 

Version Control

Version number Date Approved
V1.0 01/2022 01/2022 by Sarah Oakley
V2.0 01/2023 01/2023 by Sarah Oakley
V3.008/202508/2025 by Sarah Oakley

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