How to make a complaint
If you are unsatisfied with our service, maybe an action we have taken or an action we’ve failed to take, we want to hear from you.
Complaints help us to learn and give us the opportunity to improve the quality of our service. They can be from people who are directly using our service, their families, friends and carers, our volunteers and partner agencies.
How to make a complaint?
You can make a complaint to Health in Mind in person, by phone, by letter or email.
If you need support to make a complaint
Let us know what support you need. We want to ensure you are heard and can provide support from another member of staff, arrange translation, make a referral to advocacy services, or IT aids as necessary to enable you to make a complaint.
What you can expect
We will ask for some details about your complaint – try to be as detailed as possible, this will help us to respond to your complaint more accurately.
We will also ask you what you would like to happen next. We will ask you for some personal information but if you would like to remain anonymous, we will respect this.
We will whenever possible, aim to resolve your complaint immediately. However, if we need to make further enquiries we will explain what will happen next and you will receive a response within five working days.
If we are unable to resolve your complaint within five working days we will explain why and tell you when we will be in touch – this will not take longer than another five working days.
What to do if you are unsatisfied with the response?
Your complaint will be moved onto Stage 2 by telling us that you are unsatisfied with the response.
The Chief Executive or Depute Chief Executive will then look into your complaint and the way that it was handled and will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days.
You will receive a decision within 20 working days unless there’s a clear reason for needing more time. This is 20 working days from the date your complaint was moved to Stage 2.
If your complaint is complex or needs a more detailed investigation, we may look at your complaint immediately at Stage 2 without going through Stage 1.
What happens next?
If your complaint is unresolved after you have gone through these stages, you can contact the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman (SPSO) or the Care Inspectorate.
The SPSO is an independent and free service and is responsible for ensuring that local authorities and publicly funded services handle complaints objectively and in line with best practice.
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
Address: Bridgeside House, 99 McDonald Road, Edinburgh, EH7 4NS
Freephone: 0800 377 7330
www.spso.org.uk/contact-us
The Care Inspectorate is the national regulator for care in Scotland. They inspect services and evaluate the quality of care they deliver. They can deal with complaints and carry out enforcement actions.
The Care Inspectorate
Address: Compass House, 11 Riverside Drive, Dundee DD1 4NYT:
Telephone: 0345 600 9527
www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/contact-us
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s data privacy regulator that ensures organisations adhere to data protection laws.
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Address: 45 Melville Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7HL
Telephone: 0303 123 1115
www.ico.org.uk
If you want further information please contact us for a copy of our complaints handling procedure.
Email: contactus@health-in-mind.org.uk
Call: 0131 225 8508