Customer feedback policy

Introduction

The Government of Jersey is committed to providing high standards of service and care to the people of Jersey. We aim to deliver quality services with consistency and provide the public with easy to use, efficient systems and processes that meet our customers’ needs.

We welcome feedback and want to understand the experiences of our customers. This may be in the form of a complaint, compliment, suggestion or comment. The Government of Jersey will use all types of feedback to learn about customers’ experiences of the services provided and continually strive to improve them.

We use the term ‘customer’ to describe any individual or organisation that accesses our services.  

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to:

• set out a clear framework showing how feedback will be managed and responded to.
• make it easy for customers to provide feedback
• support a simple and consistent approach to complaint handling
• ensure that complaints are dealt with in a fair, unbiased, timely and confidential manner
• enable the organisation to use the learning and insight received to understand the needs of our customers and improve service, satisfaction and performance
  

Scope

This policy applies to all customer feedback received across the Government of Jersey. It applies to all employees, agency workers, contractors, volunteers.

This policy covers suggestions, comments, compliments or complaints about:

• the standard of service we provide including all aspects of healthcare
• how we administer services and the processes we use
• the advice we have given
• the behaviour of our staff
• any action or lack of action by staff affecting a customer or group of customers of the department, and
• feedback on policy or law
  

This policy does not cover;

• staff grievances
• whistleblowing
• code of conduct complaints (See our code of conduct)
• disagreements with decisions where a formal right of review or appeal exists. This is dealt with through separate review procedures in the specific department. If feedback is received about a decision where an appeal process exists, the customer will be notified that this has been referred to a different process. Some common appeal procedures are:
• parking fines
• planning or building decisions
• school admissions
• Social Security decisions
• tax assessments
• responses to requests for feedback given as part of a consultation process
• requests for information made under the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 (Complaints can be submitted about the handling of an on-going request that is yet to be completed)
• Subject access requests made under the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 (further information about making Subject requests can be found here). Complaints can be submitted about the handling of an on-going subject access request that is yet to be completed.
• matters that are the subject of current or past legal action
• complaints about General Practitioners
• complaints about Crown Officers and complaints about the Law Officers Department
• complaints about decisions or conduct of the Viscount, the Deputy Viscount or the Judicial Greffier in the performance of their functions. Find more information here
• complaints about States Members or, the Greffier or Deputy Greffier of the States
• complaints about the decisions made by, and statutory services provided by the Superintendent Registrar
• complaints about States of Jersey police officers and organisational complaints about the States of Jersey Police. See Jersey Police Complaints Authority
• complaints that fall under the remit of the Health and Safety Inspectorate or Trading Standards.
• complaints that have already been formally investigated under this policy
• Private healthcare
  

Customer feedback process

Providing feedback

You can provide feedback yourself, or a family member, friend, representative, or independent advocate can contact us.

You may submit feedback at any time in the best way for you. We welcome feedback at the point of service as well as afterwards

Some of the ways in which you can provide feedback are;

Directly to any Government employee, whether face to face, by phone or in writing

Online - gov.je/feedback

Email - feedback@gov.je

Letter - PO Box 55, JE4 8PE

Telephone - 01534 444444

If you need assistance in providing feedback, please contact the Customer Experience Team on 01534 444444 or feedback@gov.je.

Complaints

A complaint can be about the standards of our services, or an act, omission or decision that has been made.

Complaints are welcomed at all levels. They allow us to put things right where they have gone wrong and identify shortcomings which can then be addressed. We seek to reach speedy and satisfactory resolution.

All feedback correspondence, including that received via​ Ministers or Assistant Ministers, should be handled in accordance with this policy. 

The following are our principles when dealing with complaints:

• We will deal with complaints impartially, objectively and professionally. Customers who complain can be assured that there will be no adverse treatment of them or their families because they have made a complaint.
• We will keep you informed about the progress of your complaint.

What happens when I complain? What can I expect?

We encourage our customers to give feedback to departments at the point of service. We aim to resolve complaints at the initial point of contact. Wherever possible staff will be adequately equipped to respond to complaints, including being given appropriate authority, training and supervision.

Complaint acknowledgement 

If you submit your feedback through our online form or by email, you will receive an immediate automated acknowledgement of receipt. We endeavour to review and give an initial acknowledgement to all complaints within the first 48 working hours of receipt.  Cases received after 3pm will be responded to within 48 hours starting at 9am on the next working day. 

We have a 3-stage procedure for complaints. Once we have received your complaint we will discuss it with you and agree how it will be dealt with. Where possible, complaints will be resolved at first point of contact, whether in person at the time of the incident, or when the complaint is made after the event.

Stage 1

Frontline complaint handling and early resolution of complaints. These are complaints that can be resolved quickly, easily, or at the point of contact.

Where resolution is not possible or further investigation is needed, in discussion with yourself we will escalate a Stage 1 complaint to Stage 2 to be investigated by a more senior member of staff.

Stage 2

Escalation to team leader or manager for issues that require further investigation or are complex, serious, high-risk, requires consent, or will take time to investigate.

This level of complaint handling will allow for:

• assessment and investigation of the complaint and decision/s already made
• facilitated resolution process by request of complainant (where a person not connected with the complaint reviews the matter and attempts to find an outcome acceptable to the relevant parties)

Where a person making a complaint is dissatisfied with the outcome of a Stage 2 review of their complaint, they may seek escalation to the Chief Officer.

Stage 3

Escalation to Chief Officer if the issue is still not resolved after stage 2. The Chief Officer can include or refer the complaint to another Chief Officer, a delegated member of the departments Senior Leadership Team or an independent third party, if appropriate.​

Timeframes

The timely resolution of complaints and keeping complainants informed of progress is very important to us.

If a complaint is received after 3pm on a working day, stage 1 will begin on the next working day. Where additional consent is required from the complainant, day one of the timeframe will begin on the day that consent is received. For the purposes of this policy working days are Monday to Friday excluding Bank Holidays.

Stage 1

We aim to respond to stage 1 complaints at the point of service or as soon possible after receipt. This should be up to 5 working days from the date of receipt.

Stage 2

Our aim is to resolve stage 2 complaints within 10 working days of receipt or the date of escalation. This may be extended for complex cases or investigations that will take longer to look into. We will ensure there are clear timescales agreed and communicated with the complainant.

Stage 3

Our aim is to resolve stage 3 complaints within 10 working days of receipt or the date of escalation. This may be extended for complex cases or investigations that will take longer to look into. We will ensure there are clear timescales agreed and communicated with the complainant.

Some level 2 or level 3 complaints can be significantly more complex, requiring a more specialist or wide-ranging level of investigation and therefore could take longer to conclude. There are different scenarios where this could happen but in particular they could include complaints for medical and / or social care in Health & Community Services, and children’s social care in Children, Young People and Education Services (CYPES). You will be kept informed of any extended timescales.

Complaints about schools received outside of term time will be addressed starting from the first school day after the holiday period.  If a complaint is received before a school holiday, it will be addressed within the usual timeframe of 5 or 10 school days (not inclusive of holiday period), unless all parties agree to an extension.​

We will assess and prioritise feedback in accordance with the urgency and/or seriousness of the issues raised.

If a matter concerns an immediate risk to safety or security the response will be immediate and will be escalated appropriately.

Time limits for making a complaint

It is important that a complaint is made as soon as possible but generally a complaint should be made;

• Within 12 months of the date when the service was provided or the event being complained about occurred
  OR
  
• Within 12 months of becoming aware of the event / subject matter

This time limit may be extended should you have good reasons for not providing feedback sooner. In cases of historical complaints, we will assess if it is possible to complete a fair investigation and be robust and transparent in this.

Consent

Where consent is required, day one of the timeframe will begin on the day that consent is received.

Consent must be received for us to investigate your complaint. We will try to contact you to gain your consent but if we are unable to obtain it, we will contact you to inform you to that we are unable to proceed with the complaint.

Education

For complaints relating to schools, a complaint at stage 1 will be handled by the school. If escalated to stage 2, the complaint will then be investigated by the Head Teacher or their delegate. Where this is not appropriate, it will be escalated to the Education Department and an officer will be assigned. At stage 3 the complaint will be escalated to the Chief Officer who is able to refer the complaint to another Chief Officer, a delegated member of the departments Senior Leadership Team , or an independent third party, if appropriate. 

Depending on the nature of the complaint, however, it may be that the school’s governing body is the appropriate avenue at any stage, for example to avoid conflict of interest if feedback relating to a head teacher. Communication with the person giving feedback will be maintained at all levels.

Further steps

If the Government of Jersey complaints process above has been completed and issues have not been resolved to the customer’s satisfaction, the next stage is independent external review by the States of Jersey Complaints Panel - see Alternative avenues for dealing with complaints.

Managing Customer Feedback

Facilitating feedback

The organisation values the feedback given by customers and we are committed to making it easier.

People giving feedback will be:

• provided with information about our Customer Feedback Policy
• provided with information about how we handle feedback
• provided with multiple and accessible ways to give feedback
• listened to, treated with respect by staff and actively involved in the process where possible and appropriate
• kept up to date, and
  
• provided with reasons for our decision(s) and any options for redress or review.

Anonymous feedback​

We accept anonymous feedback. While we are not able to provide a direct response, we will carry out an investigation of the issues raised if there is sufficient information provided.  This helps us to learn and improve continuously.

Accessibility

We will ensure that information about how and where feedback can be given to or about us is well publicised. We will ensure that our systems to manage complaints are easily understood and accessible to everyone, particularly people who may require assistance, including children and young people, and people with disabilities. If a person prefers or needs another person or organisation to assist or represent them in the giving and/ or resolution of their feedback, we will communicate with them through their representative if this is their wish. Anyone may represent a person wishing to give feedback with their consent (e.g. advocate, family member, legal or community representative, States member, or another organisation).

Respond to complaints

Responsiveness

We are committed to managing people’s expectations We will inform people making a complaint within 48 hours, of the following:

• the complaints process
• the expected timeframes for our actions
• the progress of the complaint and reasons for any delay
• their likely involvement in the process, and
• the possible or likely outcome of their complaint

We will ask for all relevant information relating to the feedback to be provided at the beginning of the investigation. Only reasonable and proportionate follow-up contact and requests will be made after providing the initial feedback if necessary. Please note, failure to provide all relevant information at the start of investigation may delay the timeframe in which a complaint can be resolved. Customers will be notified when they can expect to hear from us next.

We will advise customers in the acknowledgement communication when we are unable to deal with any part of their complaint and provide advice about where such issues and/or complaints may be directed (if known and appropriate).

We will also advise people as soon as possible when we are unable to meet our time frames for responding to their complaint and the reason for our delay.

Objectivity and fairness

We will address each complaint with integrity and in an equitable, objective and unbiased manner.

We will ensure that the person handling a complaint is different from any staff member whose conduct or service is being complained about.

Conflicts of interests, whether actual or perceived, will be managed responsibly. In particular, internal reviews of how a complaint was managed will be conducted by a person other than the original decision maker.

Responding flexibly

Our staff are supported to resolve complaints as quickly as possible. We will be flexible in our approach to enhance accessibility for people making complaints and/or their representatives.

We will assess each complaint on its merits and involve people making complaints and/or their representative in the process as far as possible.

Confidentiality

We will protect the identity of people giving feedback where this is practical and appropriate.

Personal information that identifies individuals will only be disclosed or used by the Government of Jersey as permitted under the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018. Information is only disclosed to those with a demonstrable need to know and/or a legal right to access those records.

Where a complaint is raised by someone other than the service user, consent will be required from the data subject, and information will not be disclosed to the third party until an appropriate consent has been received.

Safeguarding

If at any point there is a safeguarding concern it must be investigated as per the Safeguarding Partnership Board Managing Allegations Framework. A safeguarding alert must be raised without delay. Where there is a complaint involving a vulnerable adult or child, the appropriate Safeguarding Manager should be informed and the most appropriate route of investigation agreed, this may not be under the Customer Feedback Policy.

Managing the parties to a complaint

Complaints being made on behalf of somebody else

Complaints can be made by a representative if the customer has given their consent.

The need for consent will be evaluated case by case. Consent is not necessary if the complaint is made on behalf of:

• a deceased person
• someone who lacks the capacity to make their own decisions
• a non-Gillick competent child
  

Where consent is given by a person who has capacity, the person giving the consent must be informed that:

• all records held in the relevant department(s) may be accessed in order to find relevant information for the complaint
• relevant information from their records will be accessed by people investigating their complaint
• where a complaint refers to Health and Community Services, relevant information from their records may be shared with clinicians and others not directly involved in their treatment
  
• information may be shared across the Government of Jersey as part of the process
• information relating to the complaint will not be added to their record and there will be no impact on services
• the investigation into their complaint will not begin until consent is received. Consent must be received within ten working days of the consent being requested. If consent is not received within this time, the feedback may not be investigated
  

Complaints involving multiple departments

Where a complaint involves multiple departments, or areas within a department, we will work to ensure that communication with the person making a complaint and/or their representative is clear and coordinated. The person making the complaint will have a single point of contact, who will manage communications about the complaint.

Subject to privacy and confidentiality considerations, communication and information sharing between the parties will also be organised to facilitate a timely response to the complainant.

Where our services are contracted out, we expect contracted service providers to have an accessible and comprehensive complaint management process. Contractors should be able to demonstrate that they have an appropriate process in place. We take complaints not only about the actions of our staff but also the actions of service providers.

Complaints involving multiple parties

When similar complaints are made by related parties we will try to arrange to communicate with a single representative of the group if possible subject to privacy and confidentiality considerations.

Acceptable Behaviour

Our feedback policy is impartial and free. We believe that complainants have a right to be heard, understood, and respected. We work hard to be open and accessible to everyone.

Occasionally, the behaviour or actions of individuals makes it very difficult for us to deal with their complaint. In a small number of cases the actions of individuals become unacceptable because they involve abuse of our staff in any form, or our process.

When this happens, we have to take action to protect our staff. We also consider the impact of the behaviour on our ability to do our work and provide a service to others.

Working with us: respecting each other

• we believe that everyone who contacts us has the right to be treated with respect and dignity
  
• we will listen with empathy and kindness
  
• we will treat everyone fairly and justly
  

To do this, we need your help

• tell us what you need
• tell us the best way we can communicate with you
• tell us what method of communication works best for you. We will do our best to meet your needs
  
• treat our staff with courtesy and respect
  

It is okay to change your mind or realise something else will work better at any time.

Tell us if something is going wrong

We want to fix problems and to know if you are unhappy. Please tell us; we will check what we have done against our policy and make changes if we can.

Remember we are people too

• We know you may be frustrated, distressed or angry because of something that has happened
  
• Our staff have the same rights to be treated with respect and dignity as our customers, and we must provide a safe working environment for them
  
• We must also provide a service to all our customers
  

This means we need to handle any situation or actions which could have a negative impact on our staff or our ability to work. 

In cases where individuals' behaviour or actions impede our ability to address their complaint, especially if it involves abuse towards our staff or processes, we must take measures to safeguard our team and maintain our service standards. This includes complainants that are deemed to use discriminatory comments and / or abusive or offensive language within verbal or written correspondence.

There are a range of actions that may be taken including restricting contact methods or requiring communication through an agreed third party. 

If we  need to speak with you about this or change the way we engage with you  we will explain what we are doing and why. 

We may need to speak with you about this or we may need to change the way we engage with you. If this happens, we will explain what we are doing and why.

Alternative avenues for dealing with complaints

We will inform people who make complaints to, or about us, of any internal or external review options available to them, including the process for taking issues to the States of Jersey Complaints Panel.

States of Jersey Complaints Panel

If a complaint has been through all stages of the customer feedback process and the customer is not satisfied with the outcome the customer has the option to request that the complaint is considered by the States of Jersey Complaints Panel.

The Administrative Decisions (Review) (Jersey) Law 1982 established the States of Jersey Complaints Panel. Its role is to review complaints by members of the public. The complaint may be about any matter of administration by any Minister or Government department, or by any person acting on their behalf.

The basic process for submitting a complaint is as follows:

• Customer sends the complaint to the Deputy Greffier of the States
• The Deputy Greffier requests a summary of the case from the Minister/department
• The Deputy Greffier sends the summary to the Chairman to decide if a hearing should be convened
• If it is agreed, a public hearing is held – both the complainant and Minister/department present their case
• The findings are presented to the States as a Report
• If the complaint is upheld, recommendations may be made to the Minister concerned and they could be asked to reconsider the original decision
  

Complaints to professional bodies

If your complaint relates to professional misconduct then the relevant Government Department will be responsible for investigating the allegations made. This may lead to an internal disciplinary investigation into the matter and involvement of one of the professional regulatory bodies.

If a customer wishes to raise a concern about an employee of the Government of Jersey directly, they can write to the appropriate professional or regulatory body to make a complaint. It is the decision of the professional or regulatory body whether to progress the complaint and whether to investigate the matter and what level of investigation is required.

A complaint to a professional body can be made even if a complaint is made under the Government of Jersey (GoJ) Complaints Policy. If an investigation has already started under the GOJ Complaints Policy, the professional body may wait for the outcome of this before deciding what action it should take, or the professional body may ask that the GOJ waits for the outcome of the professional body’s investigation before Government start their own investigation.

Withdrawal of complaints

Complaints may be withdrawn orally or in writing at any time. A written record of oral requests, to withdraw a complaint, will be made.

Taking legal action about a complaint

If, at any stage of the complaints process, the complainant indicates a clear intention to bring legal proceedings, or has instructed legal representation, the use of the Customer Feedback Policy is not necessarily precluded. The Department concerned should liaise with the Head of the Civil Division at the Law Officers Department (or the Legal Services Manager at HCS for clinical negligence or personal injury claims) to determine whether progressing the complaint might prejudice subsequent legal proceedings.

If there is no legal reason why the complaint should not be investigated, the complaint can continue to be investigated under the Customer Feedback Policy.

In cases where there are legal reasons why a complaint should not be dealt with under this policy, the complaint investigation will cease, the complainant advised of this fact and advised to ask their legal representative to contact the Law Officers’ Department or the Legal Services Manager. Any issues raised within the complaint that are not part of the claim will continue to be investigated.

Where complaints involve the death of someone, these are referred to the Deputy Viscount, the Head of Clinical Governance and Risk Management at HCS who will lead and co-ordinate the investigation. This ensures clear lines of communication and investigation for both clinicians and families.

Accountability and learning

All complaints offer the opportunity for us to learn and improve. It is important that all complaints are reviewed, and lessons are learned.

As a learning organisation, we are committed to improving effectiveness and efficiency. We want to get it right first time. To this end, we will:

• ensure that any actual or proposed improvements to services and programs will be followed up and acted upon
• implement appropriate system changes that have been identified by analysis of complaints data and continual monitoring of the system
• implement best practices in handling customer feedback
• recognise and reward exemplary handling of customer feedback by staff
• regularly review the complaints management system and complaint data
• listen to people going through the feedback process in order to learn how the customer feedback procedures can be improved, and
• learn corporately from customer feedback so that improvements can be made across the whole of Government
  

Analysis and evaluation of customer feedback

We will ensure that complaints are recorded in a systematic way so that information can be easily retrieved for reporting and analysis.

Regular reports will be run on:

• the number of each type of feedback received, including volume of cases opened
• the outcome of complaints (e.g. upheld, partially upheld, not upheld), including matters resolved at point of service
• % of extensions to timescales - all stages
• volume of current cases in each stage
• volume of cases closed at each stage
• % of cases closed within timescales
• volume by causes of complaints (to monitor service improvements)
• volume of cases by area (broken down into type of feedback – compliment, complaint, suggestion)
• actionable insights and action taken
• the themes for complaints
• improvements made in response to customer feedback, and
• volume of complaints being made to the States of Jersey Complaints Panel
• volume of identified vexatious complaints and instances of unreasonable behaviour
  
• number of complaints identified as vexatious or exhibiting unreasonable or persistently unreasonable behaviour​​
  

We will also publish reports to the public on Gov.je.

Regular analysis of these reports will be undertaken to monitor trends, measure the quality of our customer service and make improvements.

Both reports and their analysis will be provided to the Executive Leadership Team for review on a quarterly basis. The Executive Leadership Team will also be updated as appropriate regarding high risk or high-profile cases, as well as any systemic issues that have been identified.

Commitment

The Government of Jersey expects staff at all levels to be committed to the fair, effective and efficient handling of customer feedback.

We are committed to:

• recognising people’s right to make a comment, suggestion, compliment or complaint about the standard and quality of services provided
• providing customers with information about the complaint management process
• providing assistance to people who may need it in order to provide feedback
• fully investigating and responding to all complaints
• recording and analysing all formal complaints
• setting and monitoring targets for responding to feedback
• ensuring complimentary feedback is registered and recognised
• ensuring suggestions and comments are appropriately responded to
• signposting to other offices which deal with redress, such as the States of Jersey Complaints Panel, and
• providing information that can be used by us to deliver quality improvements in our services, staff and complaint handling

The following table outlines the nature of the commitment we expect and the way that commitment should be implemented. Specific roles and responsibilities for all staff will be further defined within departmental procedures for handling customer feedback.

Training and staff development

The Government of Jersey will ensure:

• all staff are made aware of the Customer Feedback Policy, the Complaint Handling manual, and departmental procedures through the induction process and ongoing training sessions
• staff handling customer feedback will be trained and given the tools to resolve complaints when received. They will receive effective supervision, guidance and feedback on their work and be supported by their line manager and the leadership team

Policy review

This policy (and associated internal procedures) will be reviewed annually to:

• ensure its effectiveness in responding to and resolving complaints, and
• identify and correct deficiencies in the operation of the system and/or services.

Monitoring may include the use of audits, complaint satisfaction surveys and alerts.

Terms and definitions

Capacity

The ability to understand and make a decision about a particular matter at the time the decision needs to be made in accordance with the Capacity and Self-determination (Jersey) Law 2016.

Comment

A remark or observation expressing an opinion or reaction.

Complaint

An expression of dissatisfaction, either spoken or written, about the organisation, its products, services, staff or its administration, that requires a response.

Complainant

The person or organisation making the complaint.

Compliment

Feedback about how the organisation delivered a good level of service or how an employee has done more than would normally be expected of them.

Consent

Any freely given, specified, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject’s wishes by which they, by statement or by a clear affirmation of action, whether orally or in writing, signifies agreement to the processing of that data.

Customer

A person or organisation receiving advice, a service, using the facilities, or engaging in a business relationship, or any other person or organisation having an interest in the functions or activities of the organisation.

Customer feedback management system

All policies, procedures, practices, staff, hardware and software used by us in the management of customer feedback.

Feedback

A comment, suggestion, compliment, or complaint made directly or indirectly, explicitly or implicitly, to or about us, about our products, services or administration.

Grievance

A clear, formal written statement by an individual staff member about another staff member or a work-related problem.

Non-Gillick competent child

A child that has been assessed under Gillick competency and Fraser guidelines as not having the maturity to make their own decisions and to understand the implications of those decisions.

Policy

A policy is an approved course of action adopted by the organisation. A formal document which sets out the aims and objectives in a particular subject.

Procedure

A statement of instruction that sets out how our policies will be implemented and by whom.

Suggestion

An idea or advice on how we can improve our service delivery.

Accountability framework

Linked policies

Code of Practice: Standards in Public Service

Disability Strategy for Jersey

Disciplinary policy

Safeguarding Partnership Board – Memorandum of Understanding

Whistleblowing policy for public servants

Related legislation

Administrative Decisions (Review) (Jersey) Law 1982

Capacity and Self-Determination (Jersey) Law 2016

Commissioner for Standards (Jersey) Law 2017

Health Insurance (Performers List for General Medical Practitioners) (Jersey) Regulations 2014

Police (Complaints and Discipline) (Jersey) Law 1999

Other references

Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General Handling and Learning from Complaints

Governance in health and social care report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, September 2018

How to complain to the States of Jersey Complaints Board

Gillick competency and fraser guidelines on the NSPCC website

Improving Administrative Redress in Jersey, Jersey Law Commission Topic Report 2017

Listen Louder – Scoping a way forward for the voices of care-experienced people to be heard – November 2018

R. 1/ 2018 Jersey Law Commission Topic Report 'Improving Administrative Redress in Jersey': Initial Response

The Chief Executive, Director General, Treasury and Exchequer and Director General, Children Young People Education and Skills’ response to the Comptroller & Auditor General’s Review: Management Information in Education (Follow-Up) October 2020