Complaints Management Policy

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Purpose

Wendy’s Home Care (WHC) is committed to quality service delivery and to the continuous improvement of the organisations governing and operating systems. WHC endeavours to create and implement effective systems that support the day to day needs of our clients.

As a trusted provider of Home Care services, we aim to ensure we are compliant with legal, regulatory and contractual requirements while also meeting the expectations of the individuals and families who trust us to provide their Home Care services.

The purpose of this policy is to provide the foundation for a transparent and coordinated approach to our overall Complaints Management System.

This policy aims to ensure that;

complaints are acknowledged, assessed and resolved in a fair, efficient and timely manner,
appropriate action is taken in relation to issues raised in complaints,
reasonable steps are taken to ensure that any person who makes a complaint is advised how to also make a complaint to other external authorities,
appropriate support and assistance is provided to any person making a complaint
WHC employees understand their Complaint Management responsibilities as workers.

Scope

This policy applies to all WHC employees and all WHC client’s as well as their carers, family, friends and others.

For the purpose of this policy, a complaint is;

an expression of dissatisfaction with
- WHC as an organisation,
- with an individual WHC employee, or
- with a WHC service delivery process.

Policy Statements

At Wendy’s Home Care we encourage and support consumers, their family, friends, carers and others to provide feedback and make complaints.

By encouraging and supporting people to make complaints and by responding to them fairly and promptly we;

strengthen relationships
identify problems
improve service delivery and systems, and
improve customer service.

All feedback and complaints will be dealt with sensitively and without retribution or impact on future service delivery. A commitment to procedural fairness and best practice complaint handling is expected at all levels within the organisation.

We recognise that feedback and complaints play an important role in strengthening our business practices and driving continuous improvement of the quality service we strive to deliver to our community.

We recognise that the broader benefits of feedback and complaints management can only be felt if people have the confidence that complaints will be handled fairly, impartially and efficiently.

We support and assist people when we recognise that they may need assistance to make a complaint. We are mindful of the different cultural and psychological barriers individuals may face in coming forward to make a complaint. We are flexible in how complaints may be made to, or about our organisation by offering a variety of avenues for complaints to be made. We also recognise that complaints may not be explicitly communicated as a complaint but need to be recognised and handled as such.

We are transparent about how and where complaints can be made at our organisation. Our website has a clearly identifiable copy of our Complaint Management Policy, copies are provided in our client and staff handbooks and updated versions are distributed when necessary.

We have implemented a system to manage complaints that is easy to understand and accessible to people with a range of communication needs and preferences. Our website is translatable to a variety of different languages and was developed with accessibility in mind. People are also able to make anonymous complaints over the phone, in writing or through our website.

If we are unable to achieve a satisfactory outcome for consumers of our services, we encourage and support consumers, their family, friends, careers and others to report their concerns to external authorities (see directory at the end of this document).

Policy Owner & Key Responsibilities

The policy owner is the General Manager. The General Manager has overall responsibility for the management of legal compliance obligations and overall responsibility for ensuring WHC fulfils its legal obligations and effectively manages any risk exposure that may result from compliance failures. The General Manager has overall responsibility for providing formal assurance as to the state of compliance of WHC.

The Quality & Compliance Manager is responsible for implementing this policy, internal reporting on the outcomes and effectiveness of this policy, and for maintaining the currency of this policy.

The Quality & Compliance Manager is responsible for managing and resolving complaints or referring the complaints to another internal or external party.

Consultation & Approval

Employees and clients of Wendy’s Home Care were consulted in the development of this policy. This policy has been approved by the General Manager.

Translating & Interpreting Services

Do you need support with an interpreter, translation or other services? There are services available to support your needs. You can also visit our accessible website www.wendyshome.com.au.

If you need an interpreter, you can ask us to arrange one when you call.

Alternatively, you can contact one of the services below and ask them to help you contact us:

Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) – 131 450
Aboriginal Interpreter Service (AIS) – 1800 334 944
Kimberley Interpreting Service (KIS) – 08 9192 3981

If you are hearing or speech impaired contact us through the National Relay Service:

TTY users: phone 1800 555 677 then ask for our number 02 4587 5999
Speak and Listen users: phone 1800 555 727 then ask for our number 02 4587 5999
Internet relay users: connect to the National Relay Service and enter 02 4587 5999

Aged Care Quality & Safety Commission

1800 951 822 │ info@aged carequality.gov.au │ www.agedcarequality.gov.au

Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, GPO BOX 9819, SYDNEY NSW 2000

NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission

1800 035 544 │ contactcentre@ndiscommission.gov.au │ www.ndiscommission.gov.au

NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission, PO BOX 210 Penrith NSW 2750