Complaints Policy Public

Responsibility

Overall responsibility for this policy and its implementation lies with the board of trustees of BHUK.

Review

This policy is reviewed regularly and updated as required.

Publicised Contact Details for Complaints:

Written complaints may be sent to BHUK at Bladder Health UK, Kings Court, 17 School Road, Hall Green, Birmingham B28 8JG or by email at: info@bladderhealthuk.org.

Verbal complaints may be made by phone to: +44 0121 702 0820 or in person to any of Bladder Health UK’s staff or trustees at the same address as above.  

Receiving Complaints

Complaints may arrive through channels publicised for that purpose or through any other contact details or opportunities the complainant may have, such as social media. Complaints received by telephone or in person need to be recorded.

The person who receives a phone or in person complaint should:

• Write down the facts of the complaint

• Take the complainant’s name, address and telephone number

• Note down the relationship of the complainant to BHUK, e.g. donor, volunteer, member, sponsor

• Tell the complainant that we have a complaints procedure

• Tell the complainant what will happen next and how long it will take

• Where appropriate, ask the complainant to send a written account by post or by email so that the complaint is recorded in the complainant’s own words

Resolving Complaints

Stage One

In many cases, a complaint is best resolved by the person responsible for the issue being complained about. If the complaint has been received by that person, they may be able to resolve it swiftly and should do so if possible and appropriate. Whether or not the complaint has been resolved, the complaint information should be passed to a BHUK Trustee within five business days.

On receiving the complaint, the Trustee records it in the complaints Logbook. If it has not already been resolved, they delegate an appropriate person to investigate it and to take appropriate action. If the complaint relates to a specific person, they should be informed and given a fair opportunity to respond.

Complaints should be acknowledged by the person handling the complaint within five working days. The acknowledgement should say who is dealing with the complaint and when the person complaining can expect a reply. A copy of this complaints procedure should be attached. Ideally complainants should receive a definitive reply within a month. If this is not possible because for example, an investigation has not been fully completed, a progress report should be sent with an indication of when a full reply will be given.

Whether the complaint is justified or not, the reply to the complainant should describe the action taken to investigate the complaint, the conclusions from the investigation, and any action taken as a result of the complaint.

External Stage

As BHUK is a UK registered charity, the complainant can complain to the Charity Commission at any stage. Information about the kind of complaints the Charity Commission can involve itself in can be found on their website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-charities/complaints-about-charities.

Variation of the Complaints Procedure

The Board may vary the procedure for good reason. This may be necessary to avoid a conflict of interest, for example, a complaint about a Chair or trustee should not also have the Chair and/or trustee involved as a person leading a Stage Two review.

Monitoring and Learning from Complaints

Complaints are reviewed annually to identify any trends which may indicate a need to take further action.