Complaints Policy

Complaints tell us where our service is not working as it should. We use them to put things right for the person concerned and to improve how we work for everyone else.

• A client or service user
• A parent or carer, or someone with parental responsibility
• A young person, with support if they would like it
• A school, education setting or organisation we work with
• A representative acting with the person's consent

Where a complaint is made on someone else's behalf, we may need their consent before we can share detailed information about their care.

Please tell us as soon as you can. Often a conversation with the person involved, or with our administrative team, clears up a misunderstanding or fixes a practical problem straight away. You can reach us through our contact page.

Please do not include detailed clinical or identifiable health information in a general online form. Tell us you would like to raise a concern and we will arrange a secure way to talk.

It helps us if you can tell us:

• Your name and how you would like us to contact you
• The name of the person the complaint relates to, and their relationship to you
• What happened, and roughly when
• Who was involved, if you know
• What you would like to happen as a result

Please send formal complaints to complaints@sensationalminds.co.uk. You can write to us at that address with the details above. The time limit for raising a complaint after the event: Item to confirm before publication: [CONFIRM BEFORE PUBLICATION: any time limit for raising a complaint after the event]

We acknowledge your complaint, look into it properly, and give you a written response explaining what we found and what we will do. Where we have got something wrong, we will say so.

Our acknowledgement, investigation and response timescales: Item to confirm before publication: [CONFIRM BEFORE PUBLICATION: the timescales the organisation commits to for acknowledging, investigating and responding to a complaint, and who carries out the investigation]

If a complaint is going to take longer than expected, we will tell you why and keep you updated.

You can complain in whatever way works for you, including in writing, by telephone or in a conversation that we write up for you to check. Tell us what adjustments would help, such as extra time, written summaries, a break in the conversation or having someone with you.

If our response does not resolve things, please tell us and we will look again, with a different person reviewing it where that is possible.

External routes available after our own process is complete: Item to confirm before publication: [CONFIRM BEFORE PUBLICATION: which external bodies, professional regulators or ombudsman routes are genuinely available for this organisation's services, and their correct contact details]

If your complaint is about how we have handled personal information, you can also raise it with the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk. We would appreciate the chance to put it right first.

We keep a record of complaints and what we did about them, separately from clinical records where possible. We review them so that we can spot patterns and improve. How long complaint records are kept: Item to confirm before publication: [CONFIRM BEFORE PUBLICATION: the retention period for complaint records]

Our privacy notice explains how we handle the information you give us.

Concerns about the safety or welfare of a child, young person or adult at risk are handled under our safeguarding statement, not as an ordinary complaint. Disagreement with a clinical opinion is handled through our assessment and support arrangements, which are summarised in our assessment and support terms overview.