The Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) views complaints as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future, as well as a chance to put things right for the person or organisation that has made the complaint.
The MMHA’s policy is:
A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, about any aspect of MMHA – administration, a staff member, process or service – resulting from MMHA’s failure to meet the individual’s expectations.
This policy does not cover complaints from staff, who should refer to MMHA’s Grievance procedure.
Complaint information will be handled sensitively, telling only those who need to know and following any relevant data protection requirements. Information from complaints may need to be shared externally, for example in relation to safeguarding, or with the Charity Commission.
We want to make it easy for you to contact us and to provide feedback or make a complaint. These are the ways you can get in touch with us:
Our commitment to you is to address each complaint in a sensitive, fair, transparent, equitable, professional and unbiased manner through the complaints handling process.
We will operate at all times from the premise that any person is entitled to express their views and that those views should be taken seriously where this is warranted. We will not, however, tolerate any abusive or discriminatory language or behaviour towards any of our staff, and may decline to investigate a complaint further in such circumstances.
MMHA’s CEO will handle all Stage 1 complaints (except where the complaint is about the CEO).
When a complaint is made, we will contact you within 5 working days of receiving the complaint, by email, phone or postal address, depending on what you provide us with.
This first contact will be to acknowledge receipt, and to capture any necessary additional details. A copy of the Complaints Policy will also be provided. We will aim to resolve the matter immediately, but if the issue is more complex and an investigation is required, the CEO will:
Whether the complaint is justified or not, the reply to the complainant should describe the action taken to investigate the complaint, the conclusions from the investigation, and (subject to the terms of MMHA’s privacy policy) any action taken as a result of the complaint.
Complaints about the CEO will be dealt with at Stage 1 by a MMHA trustee.
If the complainant feels that the problem has not been satisfactorily resolved at Stage 1, they can request that the complaint is reviewed at Board level.
At this stage, the complaint will be passed to a member of the Board of Trustees. The request for Board level review should be acknowledged within five working days of receiving it. The acknowledgement should say who will deal with the case and when the complainant can expect a reply.
The Board of Trustees may investigate the facts of the case themselves or delegate a suitable person to do so. This may involve reviewing the paperwork of the case and speaking with the person who dealt with the complaint at Stage 1. The person who dealt with the original complaint at Stage 1 should be kept informed of what is happening.
Whether the complaint is upheld or not, the reply to the complainant should describe the action taken to investigate the complaint, the conclusions from the investigation, and any action taken as a result of the complaint. The decision taken at this stage is final, unless the Board decides it is appropriate to seek external assistance with resolution.
As MMHA is a registered charity, the complainant can complain to the Charity Commission Regulator at any stage. Information about the kind of complaints the Charity Commission can involve itself in can be found at www.gov.uk/complain-about-charity.
There may be good reason to vary the procedure, for example to avoid a conflict of interest, or to allow for confidentiality a person involved. These changes will be allowed where they do not conflict with the intention of the complaints policy.
All complaints received will be brought before the Board for review at our regular Board meetings.
Learning from complaints will be implemented following the review by the Board.
This policy will be reviewed by the Board of Trustees a minimum of every three years.
Approved: August 2024
Review: By August 2027
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