Complaints Policy

COMPLAINTS, COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK POLICY

At Noa Girls we strive to provide effective emotional, practical and therapeutic support to our girls. We recognise that there will be occasions where a parent/carer or girl wishes to provide Noa with comments or feedback on the service it provides, and (hopefully) rarely, a complaint. If you intend to make a complaint, please do so at the earliest possible opportunity, so that the matter can be resolved effectively and quickly.

This policy has been written and implemented in order to set out the steps that need to be taken if a parent /carer or girl wishes to make a complaint. Where a girl is over the age of 16 years, she would normally be expected to bring the complaint herself. Where a girl under the age of 16 years is classed as ‘Gillick competent’, any complaint received from a parent/carer will be discussed with the girl by Noa Girls to seek her consent. Where a girl is not considered to be ‘Gillick competent’ her parent/carer can bring the complaint for her.

Please note that there may be occasions where it will not be possible to enter into communication with the Complainant where this would involve a breach of confidentiality on the part of our girls, without first seeking their consent to do so.

We will refer to the person making the complaint as the ‘Complainant’:-

COMPLAINT PROCESS

Stage One: The Staff Member or Clinical Manager receives a complaint either in person or in writing.  The complaint will be acknowledged in writing within 48 hours of being received. An informal meeting, where appropriate, will be offered with the Clinical Manager and the Complainant within 7 days of the complaint being received or as soon as reasonably practicable in order to try and resolve any issues informally. At the end of the meeting, the Clinical Manager will send a letter to the Complainant, summarising the nature of the complaint, what was discussed and agreed, noting any further action that needs to be taken.

If the matter cannot be resolved informally then:-

Stage Two: The CEO becomes involved and investigates the original complaint as soon as possible. She will offer an informal meeting, where appropriate, with the Complainant within 10 working days in order to try and resolve the complaint.  Following the meeting, the CEO will send a letter to the Complainant, summarising what was discussed and agreed, noting any further action that needs to be taken.  If a resolution cannot be reached then the CEO will recommend that the complaint be handled as per Stage Three below.

Stage Three: The Board of Trustees will appoint 2 Trustees or, where a complainant is known to the Trustees, an independent, external investigator, to consider the original complaint. They will offer a meeting, where appropriate, with the Complainant in the hope of resolving the matter. At the end of the meeting the Trustees / external investigator will send a letter to the Complainant, summarising what was discussed and agreed, noting if any further action needs to be taken.

Stage Four: where appropriate, a final right of appeal can be made to the remaining Trustees (who have not been involved in the original complaint), or where a complainant is known to the Trustees, to an independent, external investigator.   If appropriate, a meeting will be held with the Complainant in the hope of resolving the matter.  At the end of the meeting the remaining Trustees / external investigator will send a letter to the Complainant, summarising what was discussed and agreed, noting if any further action needs to be taken.

Noa Girls takes all complaints very seriously and hopes to resolve them satisfactorily as soon as possible. If, however, a Complainant feels that their complaint has not been satisfactorily resolved they may wish to contact the Charity Commission who will advise whether they, or the Fundraising Regulator, can investigate:

https://forms.charitycommission.gov.uk/raising-concerns/

https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/complaints

The Board of Trustees at Noa Girls will comply with their statutory duties to report any Serious Incidents to the Charity Commission that may arise.

Our commitment on Discrimination – Noa Girls is committed to eliminating unlawful discrimination and promoting equality and diversity in our own policies and procedures, and encouraging others to do the same. We aim to treat everyone equally and with the same attention, courtesy and respect. We are committed to complying with all anti-discrimination legislation and associated codes of practice either now or in the future.

We are committed to advancing, cultivating and preserving a culture of diversity and inclusion within the orthodox Jewish Community.

Noa Girls is committed to improving its services and uses all feedback to develop these services further.

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