Policy last updated: 13/12/2022
New Leaf Health is committed to providing excellent service and views complaints as an opportunity to put things right when problems have occurred, and to learn and improve for the future.
Our policy is:
- To provide an easy-to-use complaints procedure that is accessible to everyone.
- To ensure all staff at New Leaf Health are aware of the policy and its contents, and how to handle a complaint when it is received.
- To make sure all complaints are investigated fully and fairly.
- To prioritise resolving the complaint and repairing relationships.
- To utilise complaints in order to make future improvements.
What is a complaint?
A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, about any services provided by New Leaf Health, including communications necessitated by providing those services.
Who can submit a complaint?
A complaint can be submitted by anyone who has a legitimate interest in the services and operations of New Leaf Health. Complaints can be made in person, by phone, by email or in writing, as outlined in our procedure below.
Confidentiality
All complaints will be handled privately by New Leaf Health. We will only disclose the details of a complaint to third parties where it is necessary to resolve the complaint, or where we are required to do so by law.
Who is responsible?
The overall responsibility for ensuring that this policy is adhered to falls to the director(s) of New Leaf Health.
Complaints Procedure
How to complain
Complaints should be submitted in one of the following formats:
- In-person, to a staff member of New Leaf Health.
- By telephone, to 01384 877 855.
- By email, to enquiries@newleafhealth.co.uk.
- In writing, to New Leaf Health, Mill House, High Street, Kinver, South Staffordshire, DY7 6ER.
What we do when we receive a complaint
The recipient of the initial complaint will take some or all of the following information:
- The name and contact information of the person making the complaint.
- Their relationship to New Leaf Health and its services.
- The nature of the complaint.
- Any other information of relevance to the specific complaint.
The initial contact may instead provide a more appropriate means of contact for a specific person if they would be better positioned to handle a complaint. At this point, said person will collect the above information.
The recipient of the complaint will then:
- Clearly outline the next steps to be taken following the complaint.
- Provide an approximate (and reasonable) amount of time for New Leaf Health to respond directly to the person making the complaint.
How we resolve a complaint
Once we have received the initial complaint and it has been assigned to the most appropriate person, we will begin to investigate it immediately.
- We will begin by contacting everyone involved in the incident to gain a clear picture of what happened to cause a complaint.
- We will then investigate internally to determine what circumstances lead to the situation that cause the complaint to be made.
Once we have determined the full cause of the incident, we will:
- Contact the person who made the complaint in order to resolve it in the most appropriate manner, prioritising a positive relationship moving forward.
- Take action internally to ensure that an incident of a similar nature does not occur in the future.
If the person making the complaint is unhappy with the resolution, they can request that the complaint is elevated in order to be reviewed by a director of New Leaf Health. A director will then:
- Review the complaint in full, along with any investigation that has been undertaken.
- Conduct any further investigation, where necessary.
- Contact the person who made the complaint in order to provide a satisfactory resolution.
Variation of this procedure
We may, at our discretion, vary the nature of this procedure where we feel it will benefit the investigation and/or the outcome of a complaint.