Wessex Cancer Support exists to support people living with and affected by cancer. We are a local charity of committed staff and volunteers, and we aim to provide the highest standards of support and service to every client, supporter and customer.
If we ever fall short of this aim, we want you to tell us about it so we can make sure we get it right next time.
We promise we will:
- Respond quickly to your initial contact
- Investigate thoroughly to gather all the evidence
- Give you a full response to your complaint
- Learn from what happened
We hope that most issues can be resolved without you having to make a formal complaint; we encourage you to speak to a member of staff first. However, we appreciate this may not always be possible or feel comfortable.
Therefore, if you would like to make a more formal complaint to Wessex Cancer Support, you should contact us using any of these options:
Email: wct@wessexcancer.org.uk
Call: 023 8067 2200 (Monday to Friday, 09.00 to 17.00)
Post:
Wessex Cancer Support,
91-95 Winchester Road,
Chandler’s Ford
Eastleigh
Hampshire
SO53 2GG
What you can expect
We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days of receipt and let you know when we expect to give you a full response. This will usually be within 15 working days of receipt, but if other partner organisations are also involved, it may take longer.
Your complaint will be logged and recorded at our Head Office.
We will investigate your complaint and our full response to you will outline what actions if any, we are taking.
If you are not happy with our response, please let us know as soon as possible. We will acknowledge your dissatisfaction withing three working days. Your complaint will be referred to the Chief Executive, who will review the case and will respond to you within 10 working days.
If you remain dissatisfied with our response you can contact the Charity Commission (0845 300 0218 or www.charitycommission.gov.uk)
If you use our complaints procedure, you are agreeing that we can use any personal information you send us for purposes connected with your complaint. We will only share your personal information with other people and organisations if necessary to investigate your complaint and will only be done so with your consent.
Timing
Please make the complaint as soon as possible so we can gather the information while the relevant people are with us, and the memory is fresh. You should aim to make the complaint within a year of when the event happened, or from when you were first aware of it. If there are reasons why you could not make the complaint within this period, please talk to us.
You should receive an initial response within three working days of making your complaint. This will tell you what will happen next and when you can next expect to hear from us. This will usually be within 15 working days.
We will investigate your complaint and our full response to you will outline what actions if any, we are taking. During our investigation we may speak to you in writing, by phone or in person, about your complaint.
How to make a complaint
Your complaint can be spoken or in writing; we encourage you to make a written complaint so you can keep a record of it. If you make a complaint in person, a member of staff should record it in writing.
Complaints should be reported to Head Office as detailed above. This is recorded on the Complaints Template, will be entered on the Complaints log and should be forwarded to the relevant person below. Please see table below.
| Complaint about | Reported to |
| Department | Director of Department |
| Director of Department | Chief Executive |
| Chief Executive | Chair of Trustees or Chair of Governance, Risk & Human Resources Committee |
| Trustee | Chief Executive/Chair of Trustees |
Please include as much information as possible about your complaint. This may include:
- dates of when and where an incident took place
- names and positions of the people involved
- details of any other discussions about your complaint that have already taken place – include dates and names of the people you spoke to
- questions you’d like answered and a list of the things you are not happy about
- what you would like to happen as a result of your complaint
- your name, address, phone number and email address and any preference for how you would like us to contact you.
Stages of the complaints process
There are two possible stages to the complaints process:
- local resolution, with escalation if required
- the Charity Commission
Local resolution is usually very effective and ensures the majority of complaints are handled quickly, effectively and positively.
What you can do if you’re not satisfied
If you are not happy with the response, you can ask for a review by the Chief Executive. If you are still not satisfied with the response, you can contact the Charity Commission.
Making a complaint for someone else
If you are making a complaint on behalf of someone else, you will usually need to have written permission from the person you are complaining for. See our complaints page for more details.
Help with your complaint
The Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) can give you advice, help you to write your complaint and go along with you to any meetings.
Call: 0131 347 0100, email enquiries@icas.org.uk or visit www.icase.org.uk