The Florence Nightingale Foundation is committed to providing a quality service and values feedback from people who come into contact with the organisation. The Foundation’s procedure on Handling of Complaints is designed to ensure that issues brought to its attention are listened to, noted, investigated and responded to within a reason timescale. The aim of the Florence Nightingale Foundation’s Complaints Policy is to ensure that all complaints are taken seriously and addressed so that goodwill is fully restored and that the reputation of the Foundation is upheld.
The Florence Nightingale Foundation (FNF) views complaints as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future and is an invaluable opportunity to put things right for the person or organisation that has made the complaint. The Foundation actively encourages all issues and concerns to be raised at the earliest opportunity with a view to early resolution and without the need for formal complaints to be raised.
The objectives of this policy are to:
A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about any aspect of the Florence Nightingale Foundation.
Complaints may come from any person or organisation who has a legitimate interest in the Florence Nightingale Foundation. A complaint can be received verbally, by phone, by email or in writing.
This policy does not cover complaints from staff and Trustees, who should use The Florence Nightingale Foundation’s Grievance Policy. Staff should raise any issues raise any issues directly with their Line Manager and Trustees with the Chair in the first instance.
Complaints/allegations may be made by:
All complaint information will be handled sensitively, telling only those who need to know and following any relevant data protection requirements.
FNF would like to make sure you are fully aware of all your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:
If you make a request, we have 30 days to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us at the address below.
7.1 Publicised Contact Details for Complaints:
The process for complaints is published on the Foundation’s website. Written complaints may be sent to the Florence Nightingale Foundation at: 10-18 Union Street, London SE1 1SZ or by email to [email protected].
This policy is to be available on the FNF website.
Verbal complaints may be made by phone to 020 7730 3030 or in person to any of the Florence Nightingale Foundation’s staff or Trustees or at any events or activities.
7.2 Receiving Complaints
Complaints may arrive through channels publicised for that purpose or through any other contact details or opportunities the complainant may have. Complaints received by telephone or in person need to be recorded. The person who receives a telephone or in person complaint should:
7.3 Resolving Complaints
Stage One
In many cases, a complaint is best resolved by the person to which the complaint has been made against and should aim to resolve it swiftly if appropriate.
Whether or not the complaint has been resolved, the complaint information should be passed to the Chief Executive within 48 hours.
On receiving the complaint, the Chief Executive records it in the complaints log. If it has not already been resolved, they delegate an appropriate person to investigate it and to take appropriate action.
If the complaint relates to a specific person, they should be informed and given a fair opportunity to respond.
Complaints should be acknowledged by the person handling the complaint within 48 hours. The acknowledgement should say who is dealing with the complaint and when the person complaining can expect a reply. A copy of this complaints procedure should be attached.
Ideally complainants should receive a definitive reply within 4 weeks. If this is not possible because for example, an investigation has not been fully completed, a progress report should be sent with an indication of when a full reply will be given.
The reply to the complainant should describe the action taken to investigate the complaint, the conclusions from the investigation, an apology (where applicable) and any action taken as a result of the complaint.
Stage Two
If the complainant feels that the problem has not been satisfactorily resolved at stage one, they can request that the complaint is reviewed at Board level. At this stage, the complaint will be passed to the Chair.
The request for Board level review should be acknowledged within 48 hours of receiving it. The acknowledgement should say who will deal with the case and when the complainant can expect a reply.
The Chair may investigate the facts of the case themselves or delegate a suitably senior person to do so. This may involve reviewing the paperwork of the case and speaking with the person who dealt with the complaint at stage one. If the complaint relates to a specific person, they should be informed and given a further opportunity to respond.
The person who dealt with the original complaint at stage one should be kept informed of what is happening.
Ideally complainants should receive a definitive reply within 4 weeks. If this is not possible because for example, an investigation has not been fully completed, a progress report should be sent with an indication of when a full reply will be given.
The reply to the complainant should describe the action taken to investigate the complaint, the conclusions from the investigation, an apology (where applicable) and any action taken as a result of the complaint.
The decision taken at this stage is final, unless the Board decides it is appropriate to seek external assistance with resolution.
External Stage
The Board may vary the procedure for good reason. This may be necessary to avoid a conflict of interest, for example, a complaint about the Chair should not also have the Chair as the person leading a stage two review.
Complaints are reviewed annually to identify any trends which may indicate a need to take further action.
This policy is reviewed regularly and updated as required.
Last reviewed by Governance and Assurance Committee, December 2020.
For review by December 2023.
"When I am no longer even a memory, just a name, I hope my voice may perpetuate the great work of my life."
Florence Nightingale