Our customer service standards
We aim to provide an excellent level of customer service to everyone who contacts us.
We work hard to consider complaints about the NHS in England, government departments and other public bodies as quickly as we can.
We may not always be the right organisation to help you, but if your complaint is not for us, we can suggest who might be able to help.
We will listen to you to understand your needs and tailor our service accordingly. If you prefer to speak to us in a language other than English, we can get an interpreter on the telephone almost instantly. We can provide advice and information in a range of formats, including large print or audio, and in any language. Just contact us and tell us what you need.
First contact
We do not investigate all the complaints that come to us, but every enquiry receives a response. We aim to acknowledge your complaint within one working day if it is sent to us by email, and within two working days if it arrives by post.
A complaint should normally be made to the public body concerned before being brought to us. If you haven’t already done this, we can advise you on how to do this, and how to bring the matter back to us if you are unhappy with the response.
The law requires that complaints about the NHS must be made to us in writing, and complaints about parliamentary bodies must be referred by an MP.
A closer look
Before deciding what action to take, we assess a complaint in detail. We may conclude that no further action is required, in which case we will write to you to explain how the public body has already put things right, or reassure you that there is no case to answer.
If something has gone wrong, we will work to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, without the need for formal investigation.
Where we can resolve your complaint directly, without the need for a formal investigation, we aim to write to you explaining our conclusion within 40 days (for 90% of cases).
Formal investigation
Only a small number of cases need to be resolved by a formal investigation. We aim to complete 90% of our investigations within 12 months of the date we first decide to investigate.
Complaints about us
If you’re unhappy with the service we have given you or a decision we have made and would like to make a complaint to us, please contact our dedicated Complaints About Us Helpline on 0300 061 4076. We aim to provide an initial response to your complaint about us within five working days, and a fuller response within 16 weeks (for 95% and 90% of cases respectively). You can find out more about making a complaint about our service here.
Our customer service standards
We report annually on how well we are meeting the standards we have set for ourselves. You can read about our performance in our Annual Report.
| 2011-12 customer service standard | |
|---|---|
| Email enquiry | Acknowledgement sent within one working day |
| Written enquiry | Acknowledgement sent within two working days |
| Substantive response to enquiries | 90% within 40 working days |
| From acceptance to investigation | 2011-12 customer service standard |
|---|---|
| Within 12 months | 90% |
| 2011-12 customer service standard | |
|---|---|
| Initial response to complaints | 95% within 5 working days |
| Substantive response to complaints | 90% within 16 weeks |
