Complaints Policy

1. Introduction

WISHH seeks to constantly improve its service to those who work with the Charity including those who donate money to the Charity, the fund holders, Hull University Teaching Hospital staff and its stakeholders. WISHH aims to treat everyone with the highest level of care and respect but it recognises that on some occasions people may not be satisfied with the service they have received.

2. Purpose of the Policy

The Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice requires organisations to have a complaints procedure.  This document sets out the policy and procedure to be followed if anyone wants to raise a concern about any aspect of WISHH’s work.

3. Who the policy applies to

The policy applies to WISHH staff and Trustee Board members who may find themselves required to receive, initially respond to, investigate and/or resolve a complaint and ensure that learnings are acted upon and procedures revised and implemented to avoid further complaints in future.

The policy also applies to those who are fundraising on its behalf including staff of the Hull University Teaching Hospitals’ staff, members of the public and third party organisations such as commercial supporters of the Charity.

A complaint related to the delivery of treatment and care by the Hull University Teaching Hospitals is not covered by this policy. All such complaints must be made to the Trust using its own complaints policy and process.

4. Principles

All complaints will be dealt with:

• Promptly, impartially and sympathetically
• In strict confidence
• Investigated thoroughly so that if something has gone wrong it can be prevented from happening in the future

5. How to make a complaint

A complaint can be communicated to WISHH by any channel including telephone, mail, email, and social media or in person. It should be addressed to:

The WISHH Chairman, WISHH Office, Castle Hill Hospital, Castle Road, Cottingham, HU16 5JQ

The following information should be provided:

• Full name
• Postal address
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Full details of the complaint including relevant dates
• Relationship to WISHH eg donor, fundraiser, supporter etc
• Any evidence available to support your complaint, e.g. letters, emails, photos, names of witnesses, or other paperwork.

Complaints can be made through an advocate or representative, if they know full details relating to the case. If someone else writes the complaint on the complainant’s behalf the complainant should sign the report to confirm that the contents are accurate and true.

All coplaints should be registered within two months of the event leading to the complaint or of becoming aware of a cause for complaint. However, WISHH recognises that each case needs to be judged individually, and for complaints that fall outside of the time limits, it may exercise discretion to apply the complaints procedure.

Complainants are entitled to remain anonymous if they prefer. The issue will still be investigated as far as possible.

6. Informal Complaints

If an informal complaint is made (i.e. verbally, bringing a matter to WISHH’s attention but not wanting to make a formal complaint), WISHH will respond verbally within seven working days, either in a face-to-face meeting or telephone conversation. This will be recorded for our records, but a written response will not be given, unless it is specifically asked for.

7. Formal complaints

On receiving a complaint, it will be recorded on the Charity’s complaints log (see section 8).

7.1 Stage 1

A letter will be sent to the complainant within 2 working days to confirm that the complaint has been received and will be investigated and to outline the complaints procedure and explain the process. The complainant may be asked to provide further information if this is required.

The complaint will be investigated by The Charity Manager (and not by any person named or involved in the complaint). The outcome will be approved by a designated Trustee.

A formal response will be sent within fifteen working days of the complaint being received. If this is not a final report, then the response will indicate progress so far and give a likely timescale within which a full response will be issued.

The full response will include the how WISHH has conducted the investigation and who has provided information. It will set out the facts that have been established and what action will be taken to address any shortcomings. It will include what the complainant needs to do if they remain dissatisfied.

7.2 Stage 2

If the complainant remains dissatisfied the complaint should be escalated to a nominated trustee, with copies of all correspondence and case documentation. The trustee will then decide whether or not to uphold the response of WISHH.

Within 15 working days, the trustee will write to the complainant with the final decision and the reasons for it. Whether the complaint is upheld or not, the reply will describe what action will be taken as a result of the complaint.

The complainant may contact the Charity Commission or the Fundraising Regulator for further advice if they are still unhappy after the stage 2 process has been completed.

Fundraising Regulator’s contact details are: Eagle House, 167 City Road, London, EC1V 1AW. www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk. Tel: 0300 999 3407

The Charity Commission for England and Wales (CCEW) contact details are: P O Box 211, Bootle, L20 7YX. www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission Tel: 0300 066 9197

8. Information recorded

Any personal details will be kept fully confidential, in accordance with data protection legislation, and only be shown to people who need to see them in order to investigate the complaint. All complaints received are recorded in a Complaints Log which will include:

• Formal or informal complaint
• Date complaint received
• Date of incident complained
• Brief description of incident
• Preferred method of contact
• Nature / category of complaint
• Date investigation concluded
• Outcomes, actions or learning that results

A summary of the log will be reviewed periodically by the Board of Trustees to assess the nature and extent of complaints made, how they were resolved, and to discuss any actions required to prevent similar incidents occurring in the future.

9. Review of Policy

This policy will be reviewed every 3 years or more frequently if there is a regulatory change.