3.2 Identify the main points of agreed procedures for handling complaints

When a complaint is made, it is essential that you follow your organisation’s policy and procedure for handling complaints.

Complaints should always be taken seriously and documented so that they can be dealt with effectively. When somebody is making a complaint, they may be high in emotion, so it is important to remain calm and explain the complaints procedure with clarity including the processes and timescales.

You may need to support an individual to make a complaint or arrange for them to have independent support from an advocate.

It may be that a complaint arises from a mix-up in communication or be something that you can deal with quickly yourself. In these cases, you should do your best to resolve the complaint but still make a record of what has happened and inform your manager.

Once a complaint has been made, it should be passed to the person identified in the complaints procedure to handle the complaint. This could be your manager or HR department.