When anyone contacts us there are a few things that we need to check. Before we can look at a complaint more closely, we ask:

• is it about an organisation and a subject that we can look into? and
• has there been a complaint to that organisation and have they had the opportunity to put things right?

Last year, we could answer ‘yes’, to the above questions in only 26% of the enquiries made to us.

By law, we also have to ensure that the complaint is made to us in writing (if about the NHS) or passed to us by an MP (if about a government department or agency).

We do all we can to point those we cannot help in the right direction. If their enquiry is about an organisation or a subject that we cannot look into, we will help them put their enquiry to the right complaint handler. If they have not met the legal requirements, we will help them do so.

Quite often the enquiries we receive are about complaints that have become stuck in the system. In those cases we will give advice on how to progress it, often contacting the organisation directly to get things moving.

Moving forward

We want to make it easier for people to find out how to complain about public services and to help make sure their complaint reaches the right place.