Complaints Policy And Procedure

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This policy and procedure have been developed to support Hope Pharma Solutions mission to provide remarkable service for all customers. Its purpose is the recognition that all users of the company’s services have a right to raise complaints and to have problems investigated and appropriately acted upon.

Hope Pharma Solutions welcomes and encourages feedback from our customers to enable continuous improvement of our services. Where complaints occur, Hope Pharma Solutions makes every effort to resolve them quickly and at the most appropriate level.

We aim to ensure that:

  • Making a complaint is as easy as possible.
  • All complaints are treated as a clear expression of dissatisfaction with our service or product/s which calls for an immediate response.
  • We deal with it promptly, politely, and, when appropriate, confidentially.
  • We will respond to your complaint informing you of what action we’ve taken.
  • We learn from complaints and feedback and we use them to improve our service.
Any expressed dissatisfaction with the following will be treated as a complaint:

  • Failure by Hope Pharma Solutions to meet obligations for our customers
  • Concerns about the way you were treated by our staff, administration, or how your data is stored or used by Hope Pharma Solutions.
  • The quality of facilities and support with the sample-taking process provided directly by Hope Pharma Solutions.

Complaints that are deemed to fall into any of the categories listed below will not be considered under the scope of this policy and procedure.

  • Already been investigated and resolved.
  • Outside the scope of the procedure.
  • Made without adequate grounds.
  • Made outside the time limit.
  • Been disposed of in court or tribunal proceedings brought by the complainant, or under a settlement agreement with the complainant.
  • Are malicious, vexatious, or frivolous.

It is anticipated that the majority of complaints will be resolved satisfactorily on an informal basis and close to their point of origin. Other than in exceptional circumstances, we will try to ensure that your complaint remains confidential, but in some cases, the circumstances may need to be discussed with other parties, therefore it may not be possible to maintain confidentiality. In these situations, we will discuss this with the complainant.

Many concerns can be dealt with informally by contacting our Clinical Director Ireti Blankson on 01634 940 880 or by emailing info@hopetravelclinic.co.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response or feel your concern requires a more official or formal response, please follow our process as defined within this policy.

Hope Pharma Solutions will only respond to formal complaints that have been raised within three months of the occurrence of the complaint.

A formal complaint (made in writing) will be acknowledged within 24 hours of receipt by the Complaints Officer. The Clinical Director will act as the company’s Complaints Officer and maintain a full record of complaints received and their outcome. Following the investigation, a response will be sent to the complainant within 7 working days. Where more time is needed e.g. the complaint is complex and prevents the completion of the investigation, the complainant will be sent an interim letter outlining progress with the investigation and giving a date for the full response.

Responses to complaints will include details on appeals. Valid appeals will usually be investigated and responded to within 20 working days. All staff are responsible for ensuring that complaints are dealt with in a supportive, courteous and timely manner. A complainant has the right to appeal against the response to his/her complaint.

Complainants are expected to bring their complaints to Hope Pharma Solutions attention detailing the reasons for the complaint. To facilitate the investigation the complainant should explain the problem as clearly and as fully as possible (including names, times, and dates) and include any action taken to date. Complainants must recognise that some circumstances are beyond the control of Hope Pharma Solutions and will impact the outcome of any complaint.

Stage 1 (Informal)

The complainant should raise their concerns with the member of staff who has direct responsibility for the matter in question to try to achieve a satisfactory resolution. If they are unable to do this then any of the management team can be contacted directly on 01634 940 880 or by emailing info@hopetravelclinic.co.uk

They will pass the information on to a relevant manager who will try and satisfactorily resolve the complaint. If you are not satisfied with the response or feel your concern requires a more official or formal response, please follow our process as defined within this policy.

Managers dealing with complaints must complete the Complaints Record Form and ensure that this is recorded on the internal server and the complaints log within 24 working hours of dealing with the complaint. If the complainant does not feel that their concerns have been addressed by one of the managers, then they should make a formal complaint to the company’s Clinic Director.

Stage 2 (Formal)

Formal complaints must be issued in writing and sent to:

Clinical Director, Hope Pharma Solution Stratford House, Waterside Court, Neptune Way, Medway City Estate, Rochester, Kent ME2 4NZ

On receipt of a formal complaint, the Clinical Director will log the complaint using the Complaints Report Log and acknowledge its receipt within 24 working hours. If a Department receives a formal complaint in writing they must add the date when it was received before passing the communication immediately to the Complaints Officer who will log it and acknowledge its receipt to the complainant.

Within 7 working days of receiving a complaint from the Clinical Director will provide the results of the investigation and a signed letter of reply for the complainant, detailing the outcome and actions arising from the investigation. The complainant has the right to appeal against the response to his/her complaint. The appeal may only be made on one or more of the following grounds:

  • That there is additional evidence that could not have been made available at the time the original complaint was considered.
  • Proper procedure was not followed.

The letter of appeal should clearly state the grounds of appeal (see above). Any appeals which do not include this information will not be considered. The full management team and the Clinical Director, will review the investigation and provide a written response to the complainant – usually within 20 working days. If the appeal is upheld, Hope Pharma Solutions will apologise and clarify the actions taken to address the issue. If the appeal is not upheld, the response will detail the findings of the appeal process. Both the appeal and the response will be copied to the Clinical Director. The monitoring process will be used to ensure that all complainants are treated fairly and equally.

Hope Pharma Solutions will take seriously any instances of non-adherence to the policy by its staff. Where appropriate, instances may be referred to the Company’s disciplinary procedure.

Last updated: 07/03/2021 V1