COMPLAINTS POLICY AND PROCEDURE

Pilton Community Health Project (PCHP) seeks to offer high quality services. It is important that people who use our services are satisfied with them. We understand that there may be times when people who use our services wish to make a complaint.

If you have a complaint about the service you have received we want to hear about it.

Pilton Community Health Project aims to:

  • encourage people who use our services to take up their right to make a complaint.
  • take all complaints seriously and treat them thoroughly and sensitively.
  • ensure every complaint received will be dealt with promptly, appropriately and in accordance with this procedure.
  • enable people to resolve matters at any stage of the complaints procedure.
  • investigate complaints in a respectful and supportive manner to both the complainant and the PCHP member of staff or volunteer complained against.

Who can complain ?

Anyone who:

  • is using PCHP’s services and/or activities.
  • has requested assistance from PCHP and were dissatisfied with the outcome.

All who work or volunteer for PCHP have a duty to bring any complaint about themselves, or about a service being offered by PCHP, to the attention of the Directors.

Please note: due to the difficulty of properly investigating complaints after time has elapsed, we cannot reasonably undertake to investigate incidents which took place more than 3 years prior to the date of complaint being made. Therefore will not investigate complaints outside of this timeframe and the complainant will be notified of this

Can I get help in making a complaint ?

The PCHP Complaints Officer can assist you to make your complaint e.g. help you put your complaint in writing, providing a translation service. A complainant may ask for a friend or relative to help them make a complaint. PCHP will act on a complaint made by a friend or relative provided we can be satisfied that the person is legitimately acting on behalf of the complainant.

Who can I contact at PCHP?

PCHP Complaints Officers: Jen Richards Co-Director () and Helen Scammell Co-Director () or 0131 551 5671.

or

You may approach the person providing the service to you or another person associated with PCHP to help you in the first stages of making your complaint known to the Complaints Officers.

Timescales

It is impossible to guarantee that investigations will be undertaken within definite timescales as factors such as the availability of all parties due to sickness, holidays etc. can affect the length of time required to complete the process. Nevertheless PCHP will endeavour to adhere to the following timescales:

  • Acknowledge receipt of a complaint within 5 working days
  • Be advised of the outcome of the investigation, or be advised on progress, 25 working days after the date of the acknowledgement letter
  • Complete all investigations within 50 working days of receipt of the initial complaint and
  • Comply with any request to meet with a member of the board to discuss the outcome of the investigation within 21 days of receipt of such a request

If you make a verbal complaint which is resolved after discussion with the person you approached at PCHP, only your name, the date and the name of the person you saw will be recorded. No details will be taken in writing.

If the matter is not resolved verbally, the complaint is put in writing and the full details of the complaint are recorded.

All written complaints are acknowledged within five working days. The complaint is investigated and responded to within 28 days.

Procedure

1. General

1.1 Anyone wishing to make a complaint can do so in person, in writing by telephone or by email. It will assist our investigation if complainants use our Complaints Form. All complainants will be provided with a copy of these procedures.

1.2 A copy of the Complaints Procedure can be found on PCHP’s Website at Alternatively a hard copy will be provided by contacting PCHP at 73 Boswall Parkway, Edinburgh, EH5 2PW, telephone 0131 551 1671.

1.3 Complainants should complete the Complaint Form as fully as possible to assist the assessment of the complaint and any subsequent investigation. The Complaint Form can be found on PCHP’s Website Alternatively a hard copy will be provided by contacting PCHP at 73 Boswall Parkway, Edinburgh, EH5 2PW, telephone 0131 551 1671.

1.4 To make a formal complaint, the complainant must submit the complaint to both Co-Directors, or to the Chair of the Board, if the complaint is against either Co-Director, at 73 Boswall Parkway, Edinburgh, EH5 2PW, telephone 0131 551 1671. Complaints can also be emailed to our Co-Directors at and and the Chair of the board at .

If sent by email, a hard copy should also be submitted which must be signed and dated and marked ‘Private and Confidential’. See paragraph 1.2 for information on how to obtain a Complaints Form.

1.5 All information relating to complaints, formal or informal, will be held in strictest confidence and known only to those who require it in order to investigate, advise or make decisions as to the outcome of the complaint. In order to investigate a complaint effectively it will be necessary to advise the person whom the complaint has been made against a) who has made the complaint b) the nature of the complaint.

1.6 Where the complaint relates to a Counsellor whom a client is currently engaged with and the therapeutic relationship has broken down the Counselling Team Leader will ensure that the client receives adequate and appropriate support and ongoing therapeutic help if, the client wishes it.

2. Informal and Anonymous complaints

2.1 Anyone with a complaint can choose to raise it first with the person with whom they have an issue and try to resolve it informally.

2.2 If this is not possible it is recommended that they discuss the matter with either Co-Director. Such informal complaints (i.e. those not in writing) will be investigated by the Co-Directors or a nominated individual and the complainant informed as to the outcome of these investigations wherever possible within ten working days.

2.3 PCHP will investigate anonymous complaints but complainant should be aware that without an ability to clarify issues raised, anonymous complaints are more difficult to investigate. Furthermore, it is impossible to communicate the outcome of any investigation.

3. Formal complaints against Counsellors and trainees

3.1The Counselling Team Leader and a Co-Directorwill be responsible for investigating and managing your complaint. As such they must be independent of both the complainant and the person who the complaint is directed towards. The Counselling Team Leader and Co-Directorwill declare any conflict of interest that could arise if they assumed responsibility of investigating and managing the complaint. If this is the case another Co-Director or Board member will be appointed to manage and investigate the complaint.

3.2 Unless the complainant specifically requests otherwise, the therapist, trainee or employee will be shown a copy of the complaint made against them.

3.3 The Counselling Team Leader and Co- Directors are responsible for ensuring that an acknowledgement is made within 5 working days of receipt. Any anticipated unavoidable delays to the time schedule that follows will be explained at this point. Every effort will be made to complete the investigation timeously as is compatible with practicality and thoroughness. The complainant will receive a written response with an outcome or update on how the investigation is proceeding within 25 days of the complaint being received.

3.4 There may be discussions with the complainant, therapist and supervisor. Depending on the nature and seriousness of the allegations, it may be necessary to suspend the therapist’s clinical work at PCHP while the complaint is being investigated. The gist of the discussion and any decision made will be recorded in written form, signed and stored safely.

3.5 The investigating officer will suspend the investigation, and advise all parties, if at any time during the investigation any legal action has been instigated or is pending.

3.6 At no time during the investigation will the complainant and/or their representative be brought into contact with the person whom the complaint was made against.

3.7 Once all relevant information and documentation has been gathered by the Counselling Team Leader and Co-Directors, a meeting will be arranged with the subject of the complaint, normally within 10 working days, where the complaint will be discussed.

3.8 The Counselling Team Leader or Co-Directors will then carry out any necessary investigation, including discussions with the person who is the subject of the complaint.

3.9 When an investigation is complete, the Counselling Team Leader or Co-Directors, will discuss their findings with the person against whom the complaint has been made and will provide them with a written summary

3.10 A written report on the findings will go to the Chair of the Board or a nominated representative if the Chair has been involved in the investigation. External advice may need to be sought concerning the complaint and investigation. Once this has been received the investigator will communicate their decision to the complainant in writing. This will be done within five working days of receiving the necessary advice. The complainant will be offered a meeting to discuss the findings, should they wish to do so

3.11 Both complainant and/or their representative and the person whom the complaint was made against have the right to be heard by the Chair of the Board or another member of the Board if they are dissatisfied with the outcome. This will normally be arranged within 21 working days of the receipt of the request to be heard. Thereafter anyone who remains dissatisfied with the outcome of an investigation or the manner in which their complaint was handled should refer to section 5 for details of how to progress the matter further.

3.12 If the complaint is upheld against the person about whom the complaint has been made, they will be subject to PCHP’s Disciplinary Procedure. Where a therapist is in breach of the ethical principles and standards of BACP or COSCA, PCHP may refer the case to the relevant professional body for further investigation. In cases of serious professional misconduct PCHP reserves the right to notify the therapist’s professional body if a complaint has been upheld against them. Any action taken under PCHP’s Disciplinary Procedure will remain confidential. The Counselling Team Leader and Co-Directors will be responsible for ensuring that any sanctions imposed are complied with.

3.13 The outcome and any action taken will be reported to COSCA or BACP at the conclusion of the investigation using BACP’s or COSCA’s prescribed reporting format.

3.14 Dissatisfied Complainants. The complainant will be advised that if they are dissatisfied with the manner in which an investigation was conducted or the outcome of the investigation have the right of complaint to COSCA or a therapist’s registration body.

Complainants will be advised of therapists’ registration bodies on request.

Further details of COSCA’s Complaints Procedure can be found on their website or by writing to COSCA (Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland), 16 Melville Terrace, Stirling, FK8 2NE.

4. Formal Complaintswhere a complaint DOES NOT relate to a member of theCounselling Team.

The procedure will proceed as follows:

4.1 The Co-Directors or Chair of the Board (if the complaint is regarding a Co-Director) will consider the evidence in order to arrive at a conclusion about the complaint. It may be decided that there are insufficient grounds to proceed. In this case both the complainant and the subject of the complaint will be informed in writing within five working days of the decision having been made.

4.2 A person who is the subject of a complaint or is implicated in a complaint cannot lead or take part in the formal investigation of the complaint.

4.3 If a decision is made to proceed, the Co-Director or Chair of the Board, will make themselves available for discussion with both the complainant and the individual complained against. A written record of these meetings will be kept. There will be an attempt to ascertain the complainant’s wishes regarding outcome or redress.

4.4PCHP may decide to seek external professional advice and it may be necessary to have the complainant’s permission to discuss the matter. In such cases this will be obtained in writing.

4.5 The decision about the complaint will be communicated to the complainant in writing within ten working days of the completion of the investigation. A copy of the outcome of the complaint will also be sent to the individual complained against. A further copy will be stored securely.

4.6 If the complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of the investigation an appeal may be made to the Chair of the Board or to a nominated member of the Board if the Chair has taken a role in the investigation. The complainant will receive a letter acknowledging receipt of the appeal within one week of its being received, and a written response within three weeks. The decision made will be final.

4.7 The person against whom the complaint has been made, if the complaint is upheld, will be subject to PCHP’s Disciplinary procedures. The complainant is entitled at any stage in the complaint or investigative process to seek independent advice and representation. Representatives may accompany them to any meetings with PCHP.

Revised December 2017