Complaints Procedure

NMH Foundation Complaints policy  

At NMH Foundation we rely on the generosity and support of individuals, volunteers, companies and trusts to carry out our vital work. We support mothers, babies and their families by funding research, providing vital equipment and supporting essential services within the National Maternity Hospital. 

NMH Foundation is committed giving you the best possible service at all times. Supporter feedback, including compliments, comments and complaints, provides a valuable source of information by which we can monitor and improve your experience as a supporter of our organisation. Let us know when you get good service, when things go wrong, or how you think we can improve our services. 

NMH Foundation has in place a Complaints Policy for use by any person or organisation who may have a complaint about practices of the Charity or its staff. This Complaints Policy sets out how we will deal with your complaint if the matter can't be resolved through local resolution. Where local resolution does not resolve the matter, the complainant is entitled to make a formal complaint by contacting the Complaints Officer at: 
Email: foundation@nmh.ie 
Telephone: 087 0563452 

Please include your name, address and contact telephone number so we can contact you easily. 

What will we do? 
We will treat all complaints with courtesy and respect and, to the best of our ability, make every effort to resolve the matter quickly. 

Who else can help? 
We strive to ensure that our team resolves all complaints in a satisfactory and fair way. However, if after we have responded as above, you are not satisfied, then you may contact our CEO directly by email mary.odonovan@nmh.ie or by calling the CEO office directly on 086 7916133. 

Our promise to you 
Our supporters and volunteers are vital to mums and babies, and as such your comments, feedback or complaints are welcomed as an opportunity for us to improve how we interact with you. 
Thank you for helping us. 

NMH Foundation Complaints Policy 
In keeping with the NMH Foundation Supporter Promise, we welcome comments, suggestions and complaints about our performance and conduct in the discharge of our duties and responsibilities. This feedback may come from the general public, from donors or volunteers, other charities or statutory agencies. NMH Foundation welcomes all feedback and regards complaints as opportunities to review practices, procedures and identify areas for improvement. NMHF acknowledges that both the complainant and NMHF have an equal voice and are of equal importance in our complaints process. The emphasis will be on a positive resolution of complaints at a local level where possible. NMH Foundation is committed to a complaints process that operates in the spirit of natural justice and is fair, transparent, not prejudiced and impartial. 

We are committed to safeguarding the rights of complainants and NMH Foundation staff in an impartial investigation of the complaint and no parties to the complaint will be prejudiced in any future dealings with the Charity. To ensure the effective management of any complaint received NMHF has identified a dedicated member of staff to handle complaints raised related to the Charity. We are committed to resolving complaints in an effective and timely manner, and use an early resolution approach to complaints wherever possible. When addressing your complaint, we will keep you informed of how we are doing with your complaint within the timeframes stated below. We will acknowledge any mistakes, provide an explanation and put matters right whenever possible. We also aim to learn from our mistakes and use the information we gain to improve our services. All NMHF staff and volunteers are required to conduct the business of the Charity in accordance with set policies and procedures. Staff must act at all times in accordance with the Charity’s Code of Conduct for its staff. 

What is a complaint? 
A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction by one or more members of the public about an organisations action or lack of action, or about the standard of service provided by or on behalf of the organisation. 

Who can complain? 
Anyone directly affected by the way in which the Charity has carried out its functions, or anyone acting directly on such a person's behalf, may make a complaint under this Policy and procedure for the management and handling of complaints about NMH Foundation. 
Anonymous complaints will not normally be investigated, as there is always the possibility that they are vexatious or malicious and the anonymity of the complainant would not enable the principle of natural justice and procedural fairness to be upheld. 
We always like to resolve issues as quickly as possible to everyone’s satisfaction. We would recommend that where possible, you talk to the person you normally deal with at NMH Foundation  in the first instance to see if your complaint can be resolved locally first. 

If this is not possible then you can complain to us by: 
Telephone 087 0563452 ask to speak to the Complaints Officer 
Sending an email to: foundation@nmh.ie 
Sending a letter to: Complaints Officer, NMH Foundation, Holles Street, Dublin 2  

Please mark all correspondence strictly private and confidential. 

When making a complaint remember to provide your name, address and contact phone number (and email if possible) and advise if you are acting on behalf of someone else. Briefly describe your complaint, providing dates and times where possible, tell us what your concern is and what you hope to achieve (for example receive an apology). Please let us know your preferred method of communication. A complaint should be made as soon as possible after the action giving rise to it, this is normally within six months of the event. 

We aim to resolve the majority of complaints received through an early resolution process. We will acknowledge your complaint within five working days and tell you who will be dealing with it. We may need to follow up with you to get further information to help with our enquiries or we may offer to meet with you to discuss your complaint. Once we fully understand your complaint and how you would like to see it resolved, we will respond to you within 30 working days of your complaint being acknowledged (using your preferred method of communication). We will tell you what we have done and how we reached our conclusions and where appropriate how we intend to resolve the issue for you. If there is a reason that we cannot resolve your complaint within this timeframe we will notify you of this and the reason for it. 

If the Charity does not succeed in resolving your complaint, you can appeal in writing to the Office of The Charities Regulator, 3 Georges Dock, IFSC, Dublin 1. The Charities Regulator can look into your complaint if you believe that you personally, or persons that you are acting on behalf of have been treated unfairly or have been disadvantaged personally by our service failure. 
 
Policy Review 
This Policy will be reviewed regularly by the Company Secretary in light of any legislative or other relevant indicators and in any case by its stated review date. 

July 2020