Policy Statement
Kyndi aims to provide a high-quality, responsive, user-led service. In order to ensure we do so we need to take account of the views and wishes of those we are here to support. We welcome every opportunity to monitor and improve our service and having a Compliments and Complaint policy and a clear procedure for resolving complaints is one way of doing this.
Complimenting our service
Compliments are valuable, welcome and important and when they are received, either verbally or in writing, they will be recorded. Compliments enable Kyndi to:
- Understand that our service is being provided to our users’ satisfaction
- Provide positive feedback to our staff
- Influence our organisational and service development
- Inform our quality assurance programme.
Raising a concern
Kyndi recognises that issues with our service may arise from time to time. We’re always very keen to listen to any concerns and, if we haven’t met your expectations for whatever reason, we’ll aim to put that right in accordance with this policy. You can visit our terms and condition page on the website at https://kyndi.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/ .
The key to this is effective and meaningful communication.
Procedure for resolving complaints
Who can use this procedure?
This procedure is for anyone who comes into contact with staff from Kyndi. By anyone we mean service users – the families and friends of service-users, other voluntary groups, statutory agencies and any other member of the public.
The Procedure
Stage 1
We hope that the majority of complaints can be resolved informally by speaking directly to the person or persons involved. We encourage you to be open and frank about any concerns you may have and to give us the opportunity to put it right if we can. If it has not been possible to resolve your complaint at Stage 1, or you feel uncomfortable about talking directly to the person or persons involved, you should use Stage 2.
Stage 2
If you can’t resolve your concern by talking directly to the person or person involved, please put your complaint in writing using this procedure. You should give as much detail as possible to enable us to:
- Understand the nature of your complaint
- Know which of our staff are involved (if any)
- Understand what it is you would like us to do to put things right (this is particularly important)
Please address your complaint to the Role and send it using the following contact details:
Name, Job Title
Address
If for any reason your complaint is about the Chief Executive Officer, then please address it to the Chair of the Board.
We will formally acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days of receiving it. At this stage, we will usually inform you of the name of the person in the organisation who has been asked to deal with your complaint. This may be:
- In a case where your complaint involves a particular member of staff, their line manager;
- In a case where your complaint relates to a particular service, the head of that service;
- In a case where your complaint relates to an organisational failing, an issue of governance or is otherwise particularly serious, a member of the Senior Leadership Team
The person appointed by us to deal with your complaint (‘the Complaint Officer’) will, in the first instance, carry out an investigation. This may involve inviting you to a meeting to discuss your complaint in more detail or asking you to provide more information in writing.
The Complaint Officer will try and conclude the investigation within 20 working days of the date of acknowledgment of the complaint. Where the Complaint Officer thinks that more time may be required, they will write to you and explain how much more time will be required and the reasons for this.
Once the investigation has been completed, the Complaint Officer will write to you and let you know the outcome.
If you are not satisfied by the response at Stage 2 you should move to Stage 3.
Stage 3
If you are not satisfied with the outcome to your complaint in accordance with Stage 2 above, you may write to Job Role of Kyndi. You must do so within 10 working days of receiving the outcome of Stage 2 above.
When you write to the Job Role under Stage 3, you should:
- Use the same contact details as above, but mark the letter private and confidential
- Give us much detail as possible explaining why you are not satisfied with the outcome of the Stage 2 response
- Explain what you would like the Job Role to do to put things right
Your complaint under Stage 3 will be acknowledged within 5 working days of receiving it.
The Job Role will decide who is best to deal with your complaint. Depending on the circumstances, this may be:
- A member of staff more senior to the Complaint Officer
- A member of the executive team
- The Job Role themselves, or another Job Role
Whomever is appointed to deal with your complaint under Stage 3 will carry out a review of the way that the complaint was handled in Stage 2 and write to you within 20 working days of the date of acknowledgment of the complaint. Where that person thinks that more time may be required, they will write to you and explain how much more time will be required and the reasons for this.
This will be our final response to your complaint.
Time Limits for dealing with complaints
Please note that we reserve the right not to deal with complaints that are raised after a period of 6 months has expired from the date of the last incident complained about unless there are good and substantial reasons for doing so.
Individuals members of Staff
Please note that you do not have the right to know what steps we take internally as a consequence of a complaint, including any steps we take regarding an individual member of staff.
Making a complaint on behalf of someone else
Where you are making a complaint on behalf of someone else, such as a family member, you may only do so if you have either presented us with evidence of a valid power of attorney or provided us with the individual’s written consent.
Data Protection
We keep and store records of complaints, our investigations and the outcome, ordinarily for 6 years from the point of our final response to the complaint. For more information about how we keep your data safe, and for information on your statutory rights, see our Privacy Policy.