Manchester Institute for Psychotherapy ( MIP )
Complaint Procedures.
We realise that sometimes things go wrong and people who use our
services may want to make a complaint. This document tells you how
the procedures work so that the person making the complaint gets a
response within a reasonable time. It also helps us to make sure that
our procedures and practices are of the highest standards possible
within the resources available.
The complaints procedure is intended to:
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be publicised
•
be easy to understand and use
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be speedy, with established time limits for action
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respect confidentiality as far as possible
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be impartial and objective
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be responsive, enabling redress as appropriate
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provide support and feedback
•
stimulate the improvement of services
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Process
1. All members, students, clients and visitors have a responsibility to take
informal or formal action to stop any form of harassment or bullying
which they witness or which is brought to their attention.
2. Wherever possible, a person who believes s/he is the subject of
harassment should ask the alleged offender to stop, or make clear that
the behaviour is unwelcome. It is recognised that, in some
circumstances it may not be possible to proceed on an informal basis.
A record of incidents of harassment should be kept to assist if further
formal action is required. If an informal approach is inappropriate or
does not lead to the harassment stopping then a complaint may be
made to the Chair of the Quality and Ethics Committee.
3. All complaints will be investigated by a menmber of the Quality and
Equality Committee. Complainants have the right to speak to someone
of the same sex if this is their choice. Where a complainant is subject
to investigation, care will be taken to ensure that the investigation does
not cause unnecessary distress to either party.
4. The member complained about must have been a member of the
institute at the time of the alleged breach of the Code of Ethics and/or
the Professional Practice Guidelines.
5. All complaints will be examined against the Code of Ethics laid down by
MIP. This is in line with EATEA and UKATA codes of ethics and
professional practice guidelines, in order to give an opinion as to
whether there has been a breach of ethics.
6. The complaint must be made as near as possible to the time of origin.
Complaints concerning events that occurred more than three years prior
to the first contact with the MMIP Quality and Ethics Committee will not
normally be heard.
7. In the event of disciplinary procedures being invoked against the
alleged harasser or bully, any member of staff or student involved must
be told what is happening and be informed of their rights.
8. If the investigation upholds the complaint, prompt action designed to
stop the harassment/bullying immediately and prevent its recurrence
will be taken. In such circumstances, if relocation proves necessary,
every effort will be made to relocate the harasser and not the person
who has been harassed.
9. Members shall be protected from intimidation, victimisation or
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discrimination for filing a complaint or assisting in an investigation.
Retaliating against an employee for complaining about harassment will
be treated as a disciplinary offence.
10. Any member of staff or student who brings a complaint must be kept
fully informed of the action being taken by the institute, and if the
complaint is upheld, of any disciplinary action which the institute
imposes.
11. MIP will not be responsible for any expenses incurred by either
party involved in a complaint.
12. MIP may seek legal advice concerning a complaint.
Informal procedure
a. Wherever it is possible, make suggestions or sort out possible
problems by talking to the person immediately concerned.
b. If this informal procedure does not work for you, you may make a
formal written complaint.
Formal procedure
a. Once you have decided that you wish to make a formal complaint
you will need to write a letter of complaint.
b. Once you have written your letter of complaint, hand or send it to
the administrator. Your complaint will be passed on to the Quality
and Ethics Committee Chair.
c. The Quality and Ethics Committee may decide that a) there may
be a case to answer. b) that there is no case to answer c) that the
matter is not within the remit of the Committee. The Committee
will indicate this in writing or in a meeting with the parties
concerned.
d. You will receive a written response to your complaint no later than
2 weeks after it has been given to The Chair of the Quality and
Ethics Committee.
e. You will in most cases be able to withdraw your complaint at any
point. The Chair may however have to follow it through even if
you want to withdraw, this is dependant on the nature of your
complaint.
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4.
Equal Opportunities and Harassment
a. Your complaint may be about harassment on the grounds of
personal identity, age, gender or disability. Or you may feel that
you have been denied equality of opportunity. In any of these
cases, you may use the systems described above.
b. You can get a copy of the Equality policy from the administrator or
the institute library (read only).
Professional Misconduct
Members should be aware that professional practice, which falls
short of the standards expected of a practitioner, violations of
ethical conduct or conduct which brings the professions of
psychotherapy or counselling into disrepute constitutes
professional misconduct.
Behaviour, which may result in termination of membership of MIP
includes:
a) Exploitation of the client, supervisee or trainee sexually,
financially or in other ways.
b) Breaches of the code of ethics and /or professional practices or
expected standards
c) Professional misconduct.
If the complaint is upheld one or more of the following courses of action
may be taken:
a. An apology be given to the complainant by the member concerned
b. The member is required to give an undertaking that they cease to practice
in a particular manner and/or cease to work with particular clients, students
or other types of persons.
c. The member be required to undertake therapy, and or supervision, and or
further training at the members cost. A method of verifying successful
completion of the requirements will be agreed between the Quality and
Ethics committee and the member.
d. An informal warning may be given
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e. A formal warning indicating that further breaches of the Codes(s) of Ethics
and Professional Practices may lead to removal from the Manchester
Institute membership.
f. Removal of membership of the Manchester Institute for Psychotherapy
5.
Appeal Procedure
a) Please note that appeals against decisions taken as part of a
disciplinary procedure are dealt with separately. If you want your
complaint to be reviewed by the Director because you do not feel you
have had a satisfactory response, you should make a written request to
have your complaint reviewed and hand/send it to the administrator for
the attention of the Director of the Institute Mr Bob Cooke..
b) Leave to appeal will only be granted if:
the party making the application to appeal will be able to demonstrate
new evidence in terms of new information, which would support the
appeal. The Chair of the Ethical Committee will decide along with two
other members of the Committee that there are adequate grounds for
granting leave to appeal.
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