Our promise
The Department is committed to providing a quality service and achieving the highest standards of conduct (and has adopted these commitments as Departmental values). One of the ways in which we can continue to improve our service is by listening and responding to the views of our customers.
Therefore we aim to ensure that:
- making a complaint is as easy as possible
- we treat a complaint as any clear expression of dissatisfaction with our service which calls for a response
- we treat it seriously whether it is made in person, by telephone, by letter, by fax, or by email
- we deal with it promptly, politely and, where appropriate, informally (for example, by telephone)
- we respond in the right way – with an explanation, for example, or an apology where we have got things wrong, or information on any action taken, etc.
- we learn from complaints, use them to improve our service, and publish information on complaints – for example, in our Departmental report.
This procedure is not applicable for complaints about related organisations, issues and decisions. If you have a complaint about a particular Government policy, you can contact the minister for that subject area of policy, or alternatively contact your local MP.
Making a complaint: What happens next?
We will reply within 15 working days from when we receive your complaint. If it is not possible to give you a full reply within this time, for example, if your complaint requires more detailed investigation, we will give you an interim response telling you what is being done to deal with your complaint, when you can expect the full reply and from whom.
The full reply will include details of who to contact next if you believe that your complaint has not been dealt with properly. This will normally be the appropriate senior Departmental official.
What we’ll do if you complain about the quality of our response
If a letter or email you receive from the Department takes too long to arrive, isn’t clear, or uses an inappropriate tone of voice, we want to know.
Similarly, if our reply to your telephone enquiry is not polite and professional, we want to know.
When we receive a complaint it is immediately referred to someone at team leader level in the Department, who will then carry out an investigation.
We will always acknowledge where things could have been done better and tell you what will be done to avoid the same thing happening again. Equally, if we don’t uphold your complaint, we will let you know why.
If you’re not happy with the way your complaint has been handled, there is a final stage of appeal and you can ask for it to be reviewed again by a deputy director.
That is the final stage of review for any complaint within the Department but, if you are still unhappy, you can refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman through your local Member of Parliament. You can find further details at the Ombudsman website.
