Need to make a complaint?
We really hope that you are satisfied with the service you have received from us.
I f you aren't happy with us, for any reason, our complaints policy explains how you can let us know.
Our principles
Brighter Horizons is committed to providing the highest standards of service possible in order to meet our service users’ present and future needs. We recognise though that there may be times when we don’t get it quite right and when this happens, we want to know about it so we can rectify things as quickly as possible.
We are also committed to learning lessons from all of the complaints we receive in order to identify issues and introduce positive changes in our service delivery.
What is a complaint?
We understand a complaint to be an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by Brighter Horizons, our own staff, or those acting on our behalf, that affects anyone who uses our services.
We recognise that requests for changes in our services, while they may contain expressions of dissatisfaction, do not necessarily constitute complaints in themselves. A complaint may be raised however, if you are not satisfied with our response to your request.
How can I make a complaint?
We want to make it as easy as possible for you to make a complaint so there are a number of ways you can do so.
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Report it to your key worker, or any member of our staff
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Call our Day Service Manager on 020 8686 8858
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Write to us at Downham Community Centre, 2 Shroffold Road, Bromley BR1 5PE
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What will we do with your complaint?
When we receive a complaint, our aim is to resolve any issues at stage 1 as quickly as possible. We handle all complaints in line with the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman’s complaint handling code.
At both stages you can expect to be treated in a polite and courteous manner.
When you make a stage 1 complaint, we will:
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acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days.
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investigate your complaint thoroughly to make sure that we have all the information available to us.
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stay in touch with you to keep you informed about our progress as we investigate your complaint.
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aim to respond to your complaint within 10 working days. Some complaints are complex and require more information to allow us to fully respond to your issue. If we need to take longer to investigate, we’ll let you know why this is and when you can expect a response from us.
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contact you to discuss the outcome of our investigation. If we find that your complaint is justified and upheld, we will explain any actions that we propose to take to resolve your complaint.
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write to you to confirm the outcome of your complaint and any proposed actions, along with what the next steps are if you are not happy with the outcome.
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How will we deal with your complaint at stage 1?
To help us deal with your complaint we will:
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keep a full written record of the nature and details of the complaint received, and the action taken to resolve it.
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assign a manager to investigate your complaint. This is likely to include a full discussion with you and anyone else who was involved. To help with this it may be necessary for us to take a written statement of events from you. This manager dealing with your complaint should:
• clarify with you any aspects of the complaint they are unclear about.
• act independently and have an open mind.
• give you a fair chance to set out your position.
• take measures to address any actual or perceived conflict of interest.
• consider all relevant information and evidence carefully.
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What if your complaint includes an allegation of abuse?
In the event of any specific allegations of abuse being made, the matter will be dealt with in line with Brighter Horizons Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults policy.
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What if your complaint is about a particular member of staff?
If your complaint is in relation to a specific member of staff, we’ll take all reasonable steps to minimise contact between them and the service user concerned while we resolve your complaint.
If we think that a member of staff may have behaved in such a way that an allegation of gross misconduct arises, the Chief Executive may decide to temporarily suspend the member of staff concerned, acting in accordance with our staff Disciplinary Policy.
If a complaint is considered to be vexatious, Brighter Horizons may choose to carry out further investigations in line with our anti-bullying policy.
What to do if you are unhappy with our decision at stage 1.
If all or part of your complaint is not resolved satisfactorily at stage 1, you can request for us to progress it to stage 2. You do not need to explain your reasons for requestions a stage 2 consideration. At this stage we will:
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acknowledge and log your escalation request within 5 days of it being received, setting out our understanding of any outstanding issues and the outcomes that you are seeking. We may ask you for more clarification if we need it.
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assign a manager from a different team, or a more senior manager, to consider your complaint.
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provide you with a final response within 20 working days of your complaint escalation being acknowledged. If we cannot respond to you within this time period, we’ll let you know why and when you can expect a response.
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at the completion of stage 2 confirm in writing the complaint stage, our understanding of the complaint, our decision and the reasons behind our decision, the details of anything we will do to put things right and the details of any outstanding actions we have yet to undertake. We will also provide you with details of how to escalate the matter if you remain dissatisfied.
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Our commitment to continuous improvement.
Our Chief Executive will produce an annual complaints performance and service improvement report for scrutiny and challenge by our Board of Trustees, which will include:
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an annual self-assessment to ensure that our complaint handling policy remains in line with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s complaint handling code.
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a qualitative and quantitative analysis of our complaint handling performance. This will also include a summary of complaints we have refused to accept, if there are any.
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any findings of non-compliance with this policy.
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the service improvements that were made as a result of our learning from complaints that we received.