Author Angela Jackson

Concerns, Complaints, Suggestions and Compliments Policy

	Complaints Policy
Author	Freeframe
	Angela Jackson
Date ratified	March 2026
Date issued
Review date	March 2027
Version	1

1.Introduction

Complaints suggestions and compliments identify the experience and perspective of people using Freeframe’s services. Complaints and suggestions are welcomed as an opportunity for learning. They act as an indicator of whether our service is functioning effectively. This feedback gives us valuable insight into areas where improvements may be required.

A Positive learning culture welcomes complaints and sees these as an indication of the quality of the services that Freeframe delivers.

Freeframe strives to listen with empathy to the experiences of all people using our service.

We strive to be thorough in our Investigations and be accountable when our service falls short of expectations.

Our aim is to be transparent and to strive for quality improvement through learning.

2.Timeframe for Complaint Resolution

• All complaints will be acknowledged within three working days via email. The e-mail will also inform the complainant that Freeframe will Be contacting them via phone for an early resolution phone call. At this point we will be asking for consent to contact the complainant, and for contact times in details.

• During the early resolution phone call, the complaints coordinator will determine any confidentiality issues that may arise. This may mean that consent may need to be gained if the complainant is not a service user of Freeframe.

3. The Classification of complaints or concerns

Informal complaints (Early resolution):

Informal complaints are defined as those concerns or issues which can be resolved within a maximum of 10 working days and do not require a formal investigation.

If an informal complaint cannot be satisfactorily resolved within the first 5 working days, consideration must be given as to whether the informal complaint should be recategorized as a formal complaint or whether the informal complaint can be resolved within an additional 5 working days.

If an informal complaint cannot be resolved within 10 working days, it will be re-categorised as a formal complaint, and a full investigation will be undertaken.

Formal complaints (Formal Investigation required)

Formal complaints are those which require a full investigation to be undertaken and a written response to be sent to the complainant following the investigation. Formal complaints are classified as follows:

Simple formal complaint: A non-clinical complaint or complaint comprising a single point for investigation relating to one service. Simple complaints are to be investigated and responded to within 30 working days.

All other formal complaints (Complex): Complaints involving an MP, more than one service, or several episodes of care, or other organisations, or particularly sensitive complaints e.g., involving bereavement, complex complaints are to be investigated and responded to within 50 working days.

In exceptional circumstances the response time for a complex complaint may be longer than 50 working days. This is likely to be the case if the complaint spans across more than one organisation. This will be discussed with the complainant, and a reason will be given for the extended timescale.

• If during the early resolution phone call, the complainant wishes to process the complaint formally, Freeframe will respond

1. Within 30 working days for a simple complaint
2. within 50 working days for a complex complaint

4.Investigation Process

• The complaints coordinator will undertake an investigation, including a timeline of events.
• The investigation will be quality checked by the multidisciplinary team.
• The investigation will be signed off and the complaints letter will be sent out.
• The complaints coordinator will arrange to speak to the complainant for feedback and further follow up on conclusion of the complaint investigation

5.Who may make a complaint

• A patient or service user
• Carers and family members: either for a service user or in their own right if they have been affected by the care received from Freeframe.
• A named representative, including carers and advocates where a person has died, is still a child or lacks capacity.
• CQC following a patient or carer raising their concerns with the CQC.
• MPs acting on behalf of constituents.
• Solicitors acting on behalf of a complainant.

6.Consent

Freeframe will not investigate a complaint without consent from the service user if they are over 16 years of age.

If a service user is under the age of 16, parental consent will be required to proceed, unless there are safeguarding concerns that have been recorded and escalated through the safeguarding policy procedure.

If A servicer user is felt to lack capacity, a best interest decision will be required prior to investigating a complaint.

If a carer or family member has lasting power of attorney, this will need to have been activated before a complaint will be proceeded.

7.Confidentiality

Information will only be shared if we have written consent to share confidential information with families, carers Interested parties including members of parliament.

You cannot complain to Freeframe if:

• You have already made a complaint about the same concern

8.How can a complaint be made?

Complaints can be made directly to Freeframe by contacting us via:

• Letter to Freeframe Ltd, 14 Hill Court Lockerbie DG11 2QW
• Email angela.jackson@freeframe.co.uk
• Telephone Angela Jackson on 07342413771
• In person

9.Time limits for making complaints. 

• A complaint should be made no later than twelve months after the date of the incident or twelve months after the end of the episode of care in question, or within twelve months of the complainant becoming aware of the incident.

10.Complaint Audit cycle and learning from mistakes

This policy will be reviewed through a neuro affirmative lens. This will be done by engaging with lived experience experts as part of our yearly audit cycle.

Meaningful participation from neurodivergent experts by experience, will encourage the production of more relevant services, by providing relevant feedback in driving change and development.

If a complaint is upheld, then Freeframe will develop an action plan for learning, and this will be reviewed and updated until resolution has been achieved.

11.Complaints audit cycle.

This will be monitored by

1. Defining the scope and standards: selecting the specific complaint areas to audit and establishing the standards for what constitutes good complaint handling.
2. By involving lived experience experts to contribute to setting realistic and relevant standards based on their knowledge of customer interactions and best practises.
3. Collecting data: gather data on customer complaints such as the number of complaints, their types, resolution times and customer feedback on the process.
4. Evidence collection: collect evidence to understand the complaint handling process including reviewing policies procedures and actual complaint records
5. Analyse data: compile collected data against the predefined standards to identify any gaps or areas of underperformance in the complaint management system
6. review with experts; present the analysis to experience experts for their interpretation and to identify the root cause of any identified issues.
7. Implement changes: based on expert analysis develop and implement changes to improve the complaint handling processes policies and practises.
8. Monitoring re audit: after a period repeat the audit process the do face to collect new data and check if the implemented changes have improved

12.Involving experts by experience:

Setting standards: experts by experience provide deep understanding of customer journeys and best practises to divine the benchmark for effective complaint handling

Data interpretation: experts by experience offer unique insights into the data collected helping to understand the why behind the numbers and identify the true causes of complaints.

Solution development: contribute ideas for innovative solutions and improvements that genuinely address customer pain points and enhance the overall experience.

Validation: provide feedback on proposed changes to ensure their practical customer centric and would lead to the desired outcomes.

Action plans will be reviewed 6 monthly if they have not already been resolved.

Freeframe will track all complaints made through a separate database which will be anonymized to develop a thematic analysis overview of complaints received. This will be audited on a six-monthly basis.