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Complaints Policy

Introduction

ALLOA HUB LTD endeavours to offer the best possible service to all our stakeholders and members. We want to ensure that any and all complaints are investigated and resolved quickly and fairly for everybody, appropriate action is taken to prevent a recurrence and to ensure the continuation of a quality service.

Policy Statement

  • ALLOA HUB LTD will treat any expression of dissatisfaction from any source as a complaint, and deal with it according to this policy.

 

  • ALLOA HUB LTD understands that a complaint can be defined in several ways and our definition is as follows;
    • A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction with the standard of a service, action or lack of action by ALLOA HUB LTD’s staff, volunteers or trustees that affects an individual or group of service users.
    • Such an expression can be expressed verbally and/or in writing.

 

This definition covers situations where someone believes that we have:

 

  • done something wrong
  • failed to do something that we should have done
  • provided services that fail to meet the national quality standards.
  • acted unfairly, unethically or discourteously

 

Our complaints procedure can be used by anyone who is using, or has used, or is planning to use any of our services. We can also accept complaints from people who are directly affected by someone using our services. We aim to resolve most complaints within 7 working days, or where a more detailed investigation is necessary, within 28 working days.

 

If we cannot meet the timescale we explain this to the person making the complaint and provide regular updates until the complaint is resolved.

 

Guidance

 

Principles

  • Anyone receiving a complaint should be courteous to the complainant, respond positively and offer constructive solutions.
  • Complaints should be handled confidentially, fairly and promptly.

Exceptions

  • Where an employee or volunteer with ALLOA HUB LTD is raising a complaint against another person within ALLOA HUB LTD, the grievance policy should be used instead.

 

  • Where the complaint is made about the Hub Manager, it should be recorded as per this procedure, then referred directly to the Chair of the Board (contact details available from Alloa Hub).

 

We would usually not consider any complaint unless it has been raised within six months of an alleged incident of dissatisfaction occurring.

 

Complex complaints can be considered as complaints involving large numbers of people or several alleged incidents occurring over time.

 

Procedure

  • All complaints received, in person, by telephone, by email or in writing, must be treated in the same manner, and the following procedure will apply:

 

When making a complaint, complainants should be encouraged to say or write clearly and briefly about:

 

  • what went wrong
  • when and where it happened
  • who was involved
  • what they are seeking from the complaint

 

Complaints should be recorded in the Complaints Log. The person recording the complaint should send an acknowledgement to the complainant within 2 working days and in this we will state the target timescale for our response.

 

If the complaint can be resolved immediately, record the outcome in the log and send a copy to the Hub Manager.

 

If the complaint requires further investigation or action, it should be referred to the person responsible for the area concerned, who will take over handling and resolving the complaint.

 

All investigations conducted and any explanation or proposed remedy should be recorded in the Complaints Log by the person taking the action, together with the outcome, and a copy sent to the Hub Manager and recorded at the next board meeting.

 

The complainant should be informed in writing of the final outcome within 2 working days of the resolution being agreed.

 

Responsibilities

 

The person receiving the complaint is responsible for recording it immediately, and passing it for further action as described in the procedure above.

 

Anybody who is passed a complaint is responsible for investigating and resolving the issue as outlined in the procedure above.

 

The Hub Manager has ultimate responsibility for ensuring all complaints are handled appropriately in a timely fashion.

 

All staff are required to adhere to the policy and cooperate with its implementation and enforcement.