How would you like your complaints resolved?

When handling complaints we think very carefully about what resolution people are seeking.  It can be to get an improved service in the future or to ensure that a change will take place but quite often the  complainant wants an apology; an acknowledgement of what has happened, and reassurance they have been listened to by someone who cares and can put it right.

 

An apology has a lot of meaning to the Trust and complainants and where a service user may be struggling it can facilitate re-engagement with the Trust which is very important.  If we feel that we have not made a mistake it is still important to us to recognise the distress or negative feelings that a service user or carer may be having arising out of  set of circumstances and provide an explanation.  When we say sorry we are sometimes apologising for how we have made some one feel because we care about how people experience us.

 

Where we have made a mistake its very important that we acknowledge this and provide a clear unambiguous apology which we do in writing in our final responses to complainants.  Obviously not all complaints are resolved in this way but we think a meaningful apology helps improve understanding between staff and service users.

 

What do you think?  What sort of resolution are you looking for if you make a complaint?