Legal and governance

Complaints Procedure

How to raise a concern about PRC, what we will do about it, how long it will take, and where to go if you are still not satisfied.

Status of this page

Derived from PRC’s Complaints and Compliments Policy, version 1.1, effective 14 April 2026 (review due 14 April 2027). The timescales, contact details and escalation routes below are taken from that approved policy. No timescale on this page has been invented. PRC should confirm this public wording before the site goes live.

We want to hear from you

PRC values feedback from service users, families, carers, staff, professionals and stakeholders. Complaints, concerns, comments and compliments help us understand people’s experiences, resolve concerns promptly, and improve the quality of our services.

PRC is committed to ensuring that no person is treated unfairly or disadvantaged because they raise a concern, complaint or compliment.

What counts as a complaint

A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction or concern about PRC’s services, whether justified or not. A complaint may relate to:

Who can complain, and by when

A complaint can be made by a service user, parent, carer, advocate, representative, professional or stakeholder. Complaints may be made verbally, by email, in writing, or through a representative where consent has been provided.

Complaints should normally be raised as soon as possible and ideally within 12 months of the event, or within 12 months of you becoming aware of the concern. PRC may consider complaints outside this period where there is a valid reason and it remains possible to investigate the matter fairly.

How to make a complaint

Please do not include detailed medical information in an email or web form. Tell us enough to identify you and the concern, and PRC will arrange a secure route for anything sensitive.

What happens next

If you are not satisfied — appeals

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome, you may request a review or appeal. The appeal will be considered by the Managing Director, Registered Manager or another senior person who was not directly involved in the original investigation, wherever possible.

PRC will aim to provide a final response to an appeal within 20 working days. If this is not possible, you will be kept informed.

Support and advocacy

PRC recognises that raising a complaint can be difficult, particularly for children, young people, adults with additional needs, and families experiencing distress. You may ask a relative, carer, advocate, professional or representative to support you. PRC can provide information about advocacy support on request.

Confidentiality, safeguarding and candour

All complaints are handled confidentially and sensitively. Information is only shared with those who need to know in order to investigate and respond. Personal data is processed in accordance with the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and PRC’s Privacy Notice, Information Governance Policy and Confidentiality Policy.

If a complaint identifies a safeguarding concern, clinical risk, patient safety incident, data breach or serious incident, PRC will follow its safeguarding, incident management, information governance and Duty of Candour procedures. Where required, concerns will be escalated to the appropriate external body, such as local authority safeguarding teams, emergency services, the Care Quality Commission or the Information Commissioner’s Office.

External review

If you remain dissatisfied after PRC’s internal process, you may contact an external organisation, depending on the nature of the concern and how the service was funded or commissioned.

The CQC does not usually investigate individual complaints, but it can receive information about concerns relating to regulated care services.

Website: www.cqc.org.uk · Telephone: 03000 616161

For concerns about data protection or information rights.

Website: www.ico.org.uk

Where services are NHS-funded, local authority-funded or commissioned by another organisation, you may also contact the relevant commissioner.

Where applicable to NHS-funded healthcare complaints, after local resolution routes have been completed.