Comments, compliments, and complaints

By using our Complaints Procedure you acknowledge that we have a legitimate interest in using your personal data for the purpose of dealing with your complaint (further information can be found in our Data Protection Policy).

We will endeavour to treat information related to the Complaint as confidential. However, in some cases the law will oblige us to refer matters to the Police, or to a Regulator etc. In addition, a person has the right to be told about a complaint against them and the evidence involved. We will try to ensure that your identity as the source of a complaint is not revealed without your consent, however it may be that the nature of the allegations or evidence indicates their source.

We very much hope that once a decision has been made about your complaint, you will be satisfied with the outcome. If you are not satisfied then you have the right to appeal. However, once the Charity’s appeals process has been exhausted no further appeals can be accepted. In certain cases you may be able to refer the matter Externally (for example, to a Regulator, or to an Ombudsman), and we will provide further information in this respect.

The Charity records all complaints and outcomes, so that we can identify any emerging issues and trends. The monitoring of complaints allows us to learn lessons so that any appropriate improvements to our services can be implemented.

If you have been unable to resolve a complaint informally then you should make a formal complaint to our Feedback and Complaints Team at feedbackandcomplaints@sja.org.uk (their postal details are provided at the end of this page). The written complaint can either be sent by post or by email (if you are unable to do this yourself, you should seek assistance from someone who can do this for you, but you should ensure that they explain how they have obtained your consent).

An acknowledgment of your complaint will be sent to you within five working days, and will indicate whether the complaint is one that the charity will accept, and if so, it will advise who the complaint has been referred to for Review (this may be someone outside the charity, such as in the NHS). We aim to provide you with a response within 20 working days. However, some complaints can take longer than that and if we are unable to do so we will let you know and provide updates every 20 working days.

The following information should be provided so that the matter can be resolved as quickly as possible:

• Confirm that this is a Formal Complaint, and that the Informal stage did not resolve matters
• Include any documents for correspondence which supports your complaint
• Be clear and concise and try to present the information in date order, and provide key dates, times, names, places etc. If you do not provide sufficient information or evidence to substantiate your complaint, the charity may not be able to take it forward.
• Set out the result which you would like from your complaint i.e. whether you are seeking an apology or an explanation, or some other response (the charity cannot guarantee that it will be able to do as you ask)

When a formal complaint has been received we will decide how it should be reviewed. Complaints will be directed to an appropriate manager either locally or nationally to review. Some types of complaint will be directed to a specialist department, for example:

• Clinical complaints will be directed to our Clinical Team (who may need to refer the matter on, for example to the NHS)
• Fundraising complaints will be directed to our Fundraising Team
• Customer complaints (about our commercial services) will be directed to our Customer Services Team
• Safeguarding complaints will be directed to our Safeguarding Team
• Complaints relating to legal action will be directed to our Legal Team

If your complaint has been referred externally (e.g. to the NHS) the third party will respond to you. Otherwise our nominated Reviewer will contact you to identify themselves and to summarise the steps they will be taking, with estimated timeframes.

Once the Reviewer has completed their investigation, they will write to you to inform you of their decision, and whether the charity will be taking any specific action (the Reviewer will also indicate how, if necessary, you can Appeal their decision).

If you are not satisfied with the decision regarding your complaint, you can make an Appeal. In order to make an Appeal you must write to the person indicated in the Complaint Decision. Your Appeal must:

• Be submitted within 25 working days of your receipt of the Complaint Decision
• Set out in writing why you think the Complaint Decision is unsatisfactory
• Provide any further evidence you wish to be considered
• Indicate any revised solution you would like us to provide (the charity cannot guarantee that it will be able to do as you ask)

The person considering your Appeal will acknowledge receiving it within 5 working days of its arrival and will indicate the estimated timeframe for dealing with it (unless the matter is unusually complicated you should be notified of the outcome of your Appeal within a further 20 working days).

Once the Internal Complaints Procedure has been exhausted, no further Appeal will be accepted. In some cases, it may be possible for you to refer the matter Externally, for example to a Regulator, or to an Ombudsman. Further information is available at www.gov.uk/complain-about-charity.