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Complaints and concerns

we appreciate your feedback

We want everyone to receive the best possible care and service from Rotherham Hospice. If something has gone wrong, please tell us. 

You can raise a concern about our care, fundraising, staff or any other part of our service. We will listen, treat you fairly and use your feedback to improve. 

Your care and support will not suffer because you raise a concern. 

 

How to make a complaint

You do not need to complete a form or put your complaint in writing. If you speak to us, we will write down your complaint and give you a copy. 

Please tell us what happened, when it happened and what you would like us to do. 

You can raise a concern anonymously. We will look into it as far as we can, but can only reply if we have a way to contact you.

You can contact us in whichever way is easiest for you: 

Help with making a complaint

Please tell us if you need help, an interpreter or information in a different format, such as large print or easy read. A relative, friend or advocate can support you. 

For complaints about NHS-funded care, free independent support is available from Absolute Advocacy on 01709 794294. 

Complaining on someone else’s behalf

You can raise a complaint for someone else. We will explain what permission or authority is needed and help you with this. 

You can also contact us about a child, or someone who has died or cannot give consent. We will explain how you can raise your concerns and what information we can share. 

What happens next

  1. Within three working days of receiving your complaint, we will acknowledge it, give you the name and contact details of the person handling it, and offer to discuss how we will respond. 
  2. Within five working days of acknowledging your complaint, we will review your concerns and decide how to investigate them. 
  3. Within 20 working days of acknowledging your complaint, we will send you a written response explaining what we found, any action we will take and what you can do if you remain unhappy. 

Someone who was not directly involved will investigate your complaint fairly. We may offer a meeting to discuss your concerns. 

If we need longer to respond, we will explain why, give you a revised date and keep you updated. 

Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays in England. 

If you are unhappy with our response

You can ask our Chief Executive, Mat Cottle-Shaw, to review your complaint. 

Email mat.cottle-shaw@rotherhamhospice.org.uk, or write to the Chief Executive Officer at the Hospice address above. 

If your complaint is about the Chief Executive, or he has already been directly involved in the matter, write to the Chair of Trustees at the same address. Mark your letter Private and confidential. 

A complaint about the Chair will be handled by another trustee who is not involved in the matter. 

Independent advice and taking your complaint further

The organisation that can help depends on your concern. We will explain the relevant options and time limits in our response. 

  • Public Service Ombudsman — 0345 015 4033: for unresolved complaints about NHS-funded care, usually after our final response. You can also contact them for advice about delays. 
  • Fundraising Regulator — 0300 999 3407: for complaints about fundraising. You can contact them if you are unhappy with our response or have not received a response within four weeks. 
  • Care Quality Commission — 03000 616161: you can share concerns about care quality or safety at any time. CQC uses this information to monitor services but does not normally resolve individual complaints. 
  • Charity Commission — 0300 066 9197: for serious concerns about how a charity is run or protects people and its funds. It does not normally resolve individual service complaints. 

For NHS-funded care, you can also choose to make your initial complaint to the NHS organisation that pays for your care. We can help you find the right contact. 

You do not have to wait for our complaints process to finish before reporting an urgent safety or regulatory concern. 

Your information and our full policy

We will handle your complaint confidentially and share information only where needed to deal with it or meet our legal duties. We record complaints and use what we learn to improve our services. 

To request a copy of our Complaints Policy and Procedure, email complaints@rotherhamhospice.org.uk or call 01709 966000. Please tell us if you need it in a different format.