Complaints Procedure – Bearsted Osteopathic Clinic

Our aim is to get you feeling your best as quickly as we can, so we certainly hope you won’t have any complaints. We understand sometimes things don’t go quite according to plan. We want you to know how you can raise any concerns with us should they arise.

Step 1

If you have a complaint or concern about the level of care you have received, please let us know as quickly as possible. Make your complaint to the practitioner involved & clinic owner (Keira Piper – osteopath) either in person, by phone, by email (bearstedosteo@gmail.com) or by letter. However, you contact us we will record your complaint in your case notes. Our promise to you is that we shall:

  • Treat your complaint seriously.
  • Work to resolve your complaint promptly and in confidence.
  • Learn lessons and use them to review and where appropriate improve our service.

If you telephone us and reach our receptionist, please clearly state you would like to lodge a complaint.  They will pass on the complaint to the practice principle. If you speak to us in person, the complaint will also be logged. The practice principle or if more appropriate the practitioner involved will attempt to resolve the complaint for you. We will get back to you as soon as possible to let you know that we have received your message. The complaint will aim to be investigated within 21 working days to find out what happened and what went wrong. We will then let you know when the practitioner involved is available to call you to discuss the matter or invite you down to the clinic for a face-to-face discussion.

We will then aim to:

  • Make sure you receive an explanation and apology if this is appropriate.
  • Deal with your complaint and reach an amicable solution.
  • Identify what we can do as a practice to ensure that this problem does not arise again.

Step 2

If you do not feel that your complaint has been resolved to your satisfaction, you can talk to an independent source about it. For osteopathic related complaint you can ring the Institute of Osteopathy on Freephone 0800 110 5857, or email enquiries@iOsteopathy.org

Step 3

If you are concerned about safety and you wish to instigate a formal complaint with the relevant regulatory body, we can provide the relevant details. For Complaints related to osteopathic care the General Osteopathic Council can be contacted on 0207 3576655. Please note that the General Osteopathic Council cannot award compensation.

Please Note this complaints procedure is general guidance. Each practitioner of the clinic is self-employed holding their own professional insurance. The regulatory body for each practitioner may differ depending on their profession. Depending on the nature of the complaint it may only be appropriate for the involved practitioner and patient/client/customer to discuss. In some cases, it will however be appropriate for the clinic owner to be involved.

Clinics Safeguarding Policy

This Policy applies to all osteopaths, associates, volunteers, students, or anyone working on behalf of Bearsted Osteopathic Clinic.

Aim:

  1. To protect children, young people, and vulnerable adults of Bearsted Osteopathic Clinic. This includes the children of parents using our service.
  2. To provide all staff with the principles that guide our safeguarding and child protection approach.

The Bearsted Osteopathic Clinic believes that a child, young person, or vulnerable adult should never experience abuse. Our responsibility is to protect the welfare of all young people, children, and vulnerable adults.

Abuse is any violation to an individual’s human rights. It can be a single act or repeated that is physical, sexual, or emotional including acts of neglect or an omission to act. All forms of abuse involve elements of emotional abuse.

We seek to keep children and vulnerable adults safe by:

  • Adopting clinical safe-guarding practices through our procedures and a code of conduct.
  • Ensuring all staff, osteopaths, associates, and volunteers of the clinic are DBS checked.
  • Recording and storing information professionally and securely and inline with GDPR.
  • Using our safeguarding procedures to communicate concerns and information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, vulnerable adults, parents and families and carers appropriately.
  • Ensuring that we have effective clinical complaints procedures.
  • Ensuring that we provide a safe clinical environment by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and up to date regulatory guidance. 

Important Points:

  • The clinic will take immediate action to ensure the safety and protection of any person.
  • The clinic associates/staff will take immediate action to inform the clinic principal (Keira Piper) of any complaint or incident and agree on the appropriate course of action.
  • Appoint an investigating officer in the event of a safeguarding complaint who must investigate and report to safeguarding authorities.
  • Safeguarding is the responsibility of everyone working at the clinic.
  • We do not assume someone else will take responsibility to report abuse. Any concerns will be raised and reported if deemed necessary. 

Contact Info:

If there is not a Safeguard Lead available, please contact Specialist Children’s Services or for vulnerable adults the Police immediately:

Kent Central Duty Team Telephone: 03000 411111

Emergency Out of Hours Telephone: 03000 419191 E-mail: social.services@kent.gov.uk

Maidstone Police Station Telephone: 01622 690690

Kent Police Child Abuse Investigation Unit: 01622 690690 (This must only be used in an emergency)