COMPLAINTS POLICY
This policy outlines procedures and responsibilities within Aesthetify Limited (“the Organisation “) for handling any concerns, issues or complaints that may arise.
In Writing: Complaints Officer, Aesthetify Limited, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ.
At Aesthetify Limited, we endeavour to provide the very best service, care, and compassion to all patients. However, if you have a complaint, we have a clear, comprehensive, and standardised complaints policy available to all clients.
We appreciate any feedback in assisting us to provide the very best service and care to all patients. Complaints relating to any treatments will be dealt with in accordance with our clinic guidelines and protocols set by our medical team.
Please address all complaints in writing (via post or email) to the general manager who is the responsible “Complaints Officer” at Aesthetify Limited. Please where possible include the following information which will allow us to best understand and investigate your complaint in a timely manner:
If your complaint is related to service or is a clinical complaint or ‘other’
Who or what has caused your concerns. If you are complaining about a member of staff, give their name and position (if you know it).
Where and when the events took place.
What action you have already taken, if any.
What outcome you want from your complaint.
Please include any supporting evidence such as photographs.
All complaints will receive a written acknowledgement within 2 working days of receipt of your complaint. The time limits for raising complaints are within 3 months from your last treatment with us. We will be flexible and extend these limits if there are good reason why you did not contact us earlier.
Your complaint will be investigated by a member of the management team, who was not directly involved in your case and any parties involved will be asked to make a statement on your care and complaint. This will be reviewed against our clinic guidelines and protocols – expert opinion from our medical director or a third party (e.g., equipment manufacturer / medical device manufacturer) may be obtained if required. When the complaint is of a clinical nature the case will be reviewed by our medical director and their findings incorporated in the complaint's outcome. Where our medical director is directly involved in your care, the opinion of an associate medical director or external medical advisor will be obtained.
Depending on the nature of your complaint a full complaints outcome will be issued to you in writing between 7-21 days upon acknowledgement of your complaint. Sometimes it can take several weeks to carry out a full and thorough investigation, particularly if your complaint is complex, where the investigation is still in progress by day 21, a letter explaining the reason for the delay will be sent to you with an agreed timescale to resolve the complaint.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of our complaints investigation and you are dissatisfied with your complaint's outcome, you have the following options. Please be aware you have 28 days from receiving to appeal.
You can write to our office to request that an objective review of your complaint and/ or the way it was handled is conducted. This will be conducted by a member of staff who has not been involved in the handling of the complaint up to that point and is not involved in the daily operation of the clinic.
Following the above, if you remain unhappy with our final response to your complaint and the service provided, the following organisations can provide advice on the most appropriate next steps depending on the nature of your complaint: The Patient’s Organisation (www.patients-association.org.uk) Citizen’s Advice (www.citizensadvice.org.uk).
Reporting and Recording Complaints
The complaints manager assesses complaints and draws up recommendations for any changes that can help improve the service. All patient feedback is reported weekly at the clinic’s weekly team meeting.
Complaints reports are considered at directors’ meetings.
Audits of patient feedback including complaints are carried out regularly.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The complaints manager continuously monitors the amount of time taken to resolve complaints, whether recommended changes have been acted on and whether satisfactory outcomes have been achieved.
The complaints manager annually reviews the complaints management system to evaluate if the complaints policy is being complied with and how it measures up against best practice guidelines. As part of the evaluation, users and staff will be asked to comment on their awareness of the policy and how well it works in practice.
Staff Training
All staff will be appropriately trained to manage complaints competently.
Regular reviews are conducted by the complaints manager to check understanding of the complaints process among our staff.
Promoting Feedback
Information is provided about the complaints policy in a variety of ways, including some or all the following:
On our website
Email invitations for feedback after consultations/treatments
By staff inviting feedback and comments.
Records and Privacy
The complaints manager maintains a complaints register/folder.
Personal information in individual complaints is kept confidential and is only made available to those who need it to deal with the complaint.
Service users are provided with access to their medical records in accordance with our Subject Access policy. Others requesting access to a service users’ medical records as part of resolving a complaint are provided with access only if the service user has provided authorisation in accordance with the Subject Access policy.
Open disclosure and fairness
Complainants are initially provided with an explanation of what happened, based on the known facts.
At the conclusion of an inquiry or investigation, the complainant and relevant staff are provided with all established facts, the causal factors contributing to the incident and any recommendations to improve the service, and the reasons for these decisions.