Our service standards

• We will treat all complaints seriously, sensitively and in the strictest confidence.
• We will make sure every complaint is dealt with quickly and thoroughly and keep you informed throughout the process.
• We will always phone first to try and resolve the complaint .
• We will use a two stage complaints procedure.
• We will offer a resolution within ten working days and do all we can within this first stage to fully investigate and agree an outcome.
• In the event that we’re unable to resolve the complaint at stage one, and you contact us within 28 days of our response, we’ll arrange a stage two appeals panel.
• We will aim to hold the appeal panel within 28 days and contact you within ten working days with the panel’s decision.
• We will acknowledge complaints where you’re not happy with a policy. Where a clear trend of dissatisfaction emerges we will review policies
• We will educate our staff in the best methods of complaint handling.
• We will involve an independent mediator if appropriate.
• We will use lessons learned from complaints to improve our policies and service.   We’ll let you know about these through regular updates in Shine magazine.