Better Together information pack: 14 How can I tell Mencap what I think about the support my family member or friend receives?

The Better Together pack has been split into different documents, each covering a different area of information about Mencap and our services; including how we work with the people we support, and the importance of building and maintaining strong relationships with their family and friends.

Unless stated otherwise, all sections of the information pack are applicable to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This final page follows the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) section of the Better Together information pack.

We define positive feedback, also called a compliment, as any expression of satisfaction or praise that external people make when they are happy about something we have done or continue to do. This may be formal or informal. External people can include people we support, families and health professionals.

Why send us a compliment

When you give us a compliment it helps us to know what is going right. We learn from this and it helps us to improve our practice across our services. Compliments are often a boost to our teams and help them feel valued for their work; you can send compliments about our teams as a whole or about individual team members and managers.

When to send a compliment 

You can send compliments at any time to our teams, individual team members, Area Operations Managers, or other colleagues at Mencap.

How to make a compliment 

Compliments can take any form, including letters, emails or cards. You can share your thoughts, ideas or compliments with the local team, team members, Area Operations Managers, or other colleagues. You can also:

• Complete our online form at: https://www.mencap.org.uk/feedback  

What we will do if you send us a compliment 

If you send us a compliment we will first let the relevant colleague or team know, congratulate them, and let them see what you have said. 
We will document your compliment and ensure that we use it to learn and develop our wider services.  

You can give us feedback at any time. 

Any positive feedback will be treated as a compliment. We define positive feedback as any expression of satisfaction or praise that external people make when they are happy about something we have done or continue to do. This may be formal or informal. External people can include people we support, families and health professionals.

You can give negative feedback without it being treated as a complaint. If you want a response to your feedback, we will treat it as a complaint. We define negative feedback as an expression of concern or dissatisfaction from an external person that does not require a formal response but can still identify opportunities for improvement. External people can include people we support, families and health professionals.

We define a complaint as a communication of dissatisfaction from an external person about an activity or experience with Mencap that requires a formal response or resolution. External people can include people we support, families, and health professionals. Complaints can be difficult to make and may sometimes be hard to identify. If a person raises several concerns, raises a concern in anger, or simply states they are unhappy about something we have done, that is a complaint and should be treated as such. We recognise that people sometimes feel more comfortable suggesting improvements or ideas about how we can do things better. We encourage people to share their suggestions with the local team or manager.

Why make a complaint:

You might want to make a complaint for a number of reasons, for example:

• You might feel that a colleague, or a team are doing something wrong
• You might feel we’re not supporting your family member or friend in the right way
• You might feel that your family member or friend is being put at risk
• You might feel we’re not taking your views or feelings into account, or not involving you in the things that you want to be involved in
• You might feel that we, or someone in our team is discriminating against you or your family member or friend.

When to complain:

It is helpful if you let us know as early as possible if you have any concerns, so we can solve things quickly. 

You might be able to solve things informally with the local team, but if this isn’t working or you are not satisfied with the outcome then you can follow our formal complaints procedure. 

How to make a complaint:

Informal complaints:
In the first instance, you might want to speak to the local team or Area Operations Manager about the issue, to raise your concerns with them directly, and discuss what you would like them to do. This would be informal but they may decide that they need to treat it as a formal complaint and begin the formal complaints process; they will notify you if they do. 

Formal complaints:
If you’re not satisfied with the outcome of an informal complaint, or would like to raise the issue through our formal procedure yourself, you can:

• Complete our online form at: www.mencap.org.uk/feedback 
• Phone: 01582 560 003 (extension 219)
• Write to: Feedback, Compliments & Complaints Team, Mencap, Business Support Centre, 6, Cyrus Way. Hampton. Peterborough. PE7 8HP.

When you make a complaint, please let us know as much detail as possible about the issue, who was involved, and what outcome you would like to see.

Please note: If you share a complaint with anyone else in the organisation , or via any other channel, it will be referred to and investigated in line with our formal complaints procedure. 

What will we do if you make a complaint:

If you make a complaint to Mencap, we will do our best to sort it out as quickly as we can.

We will:

• Send you a copy of our complaints policy to read for information.
• Let you know that we have received your complaint within 3 working days and may contact you for further information to help us to look into it.
• Within 25 working days we will try to ensure your complaint has been answered. We will tell you if we need some more time, and why.

If you would like to share your complaint with one of our regulators, you can contact:

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England
Call 0300 0616161
Email [email protected] 

The Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CCSIW)
Call 01443 848450
Email [email protected]

OFSTED, In England about our children’s services
Call 0300 1231231
Email [email protected]  

RQIA, in Northern Ireland
Call 028 90517500
Email [email protected] 

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of a complaint, please let us know. We may signpost you to the local ombudsman to take your complaint further.