Essential Elements of Effective Complaint Handling

 For a complaint handling system to be effective it needs to have:

• an easily understood procedure for service users to provide feedback (not exclusively complaints but also suggestions, requests for service etc).
• clear delegations to staff that clearly defines their responsibility for handling complaints (and scope of decision-making) and their authority to provide resolution (including redress).
• staff who are skilled, motivated and empowered to be sensitive to and welcome complaints and other feedback on service.
• proper training for staff on your complaint handling system, including in the skills of listening, problem solving and conflict resolution.
• procedures for concililiating and investigating complaints
• performance standards for complaint handling such as target turn around times, progress reports to complainants.
• control systems to make sure that complaints are dealt with and performance standards are met.
• manual forms or a database for capturing complaint feedback data to enable managers to identify problems and analyse trends for use in improvement planning.

An effective complaint handling system will then pass two principal tests:

• Help resolve service user dissatisfaction about the service that they receive or believe that they should receive.
• Produce data that will help the organisation identify any problems and change policies and procedures to prevent similar complaints being made.