FibroSupport-Wales  is a responsive organisation guided by a set of core values.

We welcome compliments and complaints and are committed to celebrating when we do something well and when we are not, we will manage this fairly and effectively. While we always want to get it right the first time and rejoice in compliments, complaints can be a valuable part of quality improvement. FibroSupport-Wales sets high standards and we want to know if we fall short of achieving them.

FibroSupport-Wales will:

• Welcome compliments and complaints as a valuable means of quality improvement and improving service delivery.
• Make a distinction between informal complaints, where we can resolve the issue quickly and formal complaints which need to be investigated.
• Deal with all complaints fairly and effectively, providing explanations and resolution within agreed and set timescales.
• If a complaint is upheld, put preventative action in place so that the issue does not reoccur.
• Promote the Compliments and Complaints Policy and look for ways for the individuals we support and who use our services to access appropriate and accessible information.
• Ensure that FibroSupport-Wales team are familiar with the policy and can explain it to individuals who want to make a complaint.
• FibroSupport-Wales will review all compliments and complaints to ensure we learn from the feedback we receive.

The principles of our complaints policy

We encourage feedback from anybody connected to FibroSupport-Wales 

• All FibroSupport-Wales team have a responsibility to ensure that any complaints are received, acknowledged and resolved as quickly as possible, and in line with our working principles.
• FibroSupport-Wales is committed to maintaining the highest quality and service standards across all our services and activities. Receiving feedback and complaints enables us to improve our services.
• Providing an accessible system that enables people, (especially our service users) to tell us about any concerns they have is important. This may involve us in using different communication methods, or if the person making the complaint does not use English as their first language, we may communicate with them via an interpreter.
• We will handle any information received confidentially (information will only be shared with those who need to know), investigate fairly and will provide a clear explanation. If a complaint is upheld, preventative action for the future will be identified.
• We discourage complaints being made anonymously, because this makes it difficult to investigate properly and impossible to respond to the person making the complaint. However we will always consider anonymous complaints, but this is likely to be on a more limited basis than would otherwise be possible.
• We cannot deal with complaints made later than 12 months after the event occurred. In some circumstances we will consider a complaint outside that time period, if you can give a good reason for not bringing it to our attention earlier and if in our view it is still possible to investigate the complaint effectively and fairly.
• We will not be able to deal with a complaint which is subject to legal proceedings or is judged to be vexatious.

Trying to resolve the issue

If you are unhappy about anything FibroSupport-Wales has done or provided, we want to hear from you as soon as possible. It will be helpful if you inform a member of our team as soon as you become aware of a problem.

If it is possible to resolve the issue quickly and informally with you, then we will do so.

We will look into the cause of your complaint and if something has gone wrong, offer you an explanation together with an apology, and tell you what action we are going to take. Many issues can usually be addressed immediately and we aim to address informal complaints within 72 hours.

Making a formal complaint

Please contact the relevant FibroSupport-Wales complaint manager by email – let us to know what we are doing well and we will celebrate our good work.

When making a complaint, if having spoken to a member of our team and that you still remain dissatisfied, or if your complaint is of a serious nature we ask you to either:

Contact the Complaints Manager: 

Address: 29 Heol-Y-Mynydd, Bargoed CF81 8QG

Log your feedback using the form on our website (Click here)

Tel: 0333 3355 241

Email: [email protected]

In order to resolve your complaint, we will need some information

• Your name and contact details
• What your complaint is about.
• When and where the issue arose.
• If you have already complained, the date on which you did so.
• The names of the people involved.
• Any related concerns or comments you wish to bring to our attention.

Our response

FibroSupport-Wales will try to satisfactorily resolve any complaint as promptly as possible. We aim to formally acknowledge any complaint within three working days. Where you complain by phone we will provide a written copy of your complaint to you within three working days.

We will give you the name of the manager / investigating officer who will be looking into your complaint as soon as possible.

We aim to complete looking into your complaint and be able to respond to you within 20 working days. However if it becomes clear that a complex investigation is necessary, or a safeguarding investigation or disciplinary proceedings are involved, it will take longer than this as these will hold precedence over the complaints process. We will contact you to explain the delay and as far as we can, appropriately keep you updated regularly.

All cases which involve only an internal investigation will be completed within 6 months at the latest. However in a very small number of cases which involve external authorities, this may not be possible. We will try to keep you updated as far as possible.

If a complaint is upheld the matter will be put right and future preventative action will be identified and implemented. You will be notified of the actions taken unless confidentially and data protection requirements prevent this.

If you are still dissatisfied

You will be told of their decision within a maximum of another 20 working days.