Complaints Leaflet
What is a complaint?
A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about any aspect of RISE. This includes your concerns, grumbles, dissatisfaction, fears, anxieties or worries about services or treatment by staff, volunteers or members of the Board of Trustees.
Complaints can be in writing or verbal. Examples could be:
- A decision we made that you don’t agree with
- The poor quality of service you received
- Not the right type of service was provided to you
- How you were treated by our staff
- How we communicated with you
- Giving you the wrong information
- Taking too long to make decisions
- Not being able to use/access the service
How do I make a complaint?
You can make a complaint to any member of our staff or volunteers in person, by email, by phone, in writing by post or by e-mailing [email protected]
Once a complaint has been received, we will:
- Take your complaint seriously
- Respond to your complaint within 1 week and provide you with a copy of our procedure
- Investigate all complaints even if the incident was a long time ago
- Do our best to deal with it quickly, politely and, where appropriate, informally (for example by phone)
- Aim to let you know the results of our investigation within 4 weeks
- Apologise when we have got things wrong
- Explain our position or any action we take
- Give explanations which are clear and easy to understand
- Tell you how to take your complaint further if you wish to do so
After the matter has been settled we may ask you how we can avoid similar problems in the future.
The RISE procedure has three steps:
- Acknowledgement – We will receive details of your complaint from you and advise of next steps. We hope to resolve your complaint as soon as we hear it. For those needing further investigation, we will acknowledge the complaint in writing or agreed alternative means within one week of the complaint being received. The acknowledgement will say who is dealing with the complaint and when you can expect a response to your complaint. A copy of the RISE complaints policy and procedure will be shared.
- Investigation- The investigator will speak to all relevant people and record their case notes and any other relevant information.
- Resolution – You will receive a response letter within four weeks of the investigation starting. If this is not possible because for example, an investigation has not been fully completed, a progress report will be sent with an indication of when a full reply will be given.
If you are not happy with how the case was resolved, you may take your complaint further with the Charity Commission, or a linked organisation such as Women’s Aid Federation England, Fundraising Standards, Housing Ombudsman, Advertising Standards, or other appropriate Independent Ombudsman.
Confidentiality
All complaint information will be handled sensitively, telling only those who need to know, recognising our ‘duty of care’ to staff/service users, and following data protection requirements.
Records
We will keep written records of the complaint, the investigation, and the outcome. These will only be accessible to the Investigator and Senior Managers.
For more information on how we store information and our commitment to confidentiality and keeping you safe please see our Data Protection and Confidentiality Policies.
Contact details for complaints
Written complaints may be sent to:
RISE, Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton BN1 3XG
Or by email to: [email protected].
Verbal complaints may be made by calling our Helpline on 01273 622822, or in person to any of RISE’s staff, volunteers, or trustees at our offices or any location where RISE operates.