Making a complaint
We aim to handle complaints quickly, effectively and in a fair and honest way. We take all complaints seriously and use investigations to help us improve the service we provide. We treat all complaints in confidence. Making a complaint or suggestion will not affect your relationship with Retina UK and we will not withdraw or restrict your access to our services, information or support.
Who can complain
Anyone affected by the way Retina UK operates can make a complaint.
A representative may complain for the affected person if they:
- cannot make a complaint themselves, or
- have given consent for the representative to act on their behalf
If you are not happy about making a complaint yourself and you do not know someone who can talk or write to us on your behalf, we will be happy to find someone from an independent organisation to act as an advocate for you.
How you can make a complaint
You can complain:
- in person
- by telephone
- through a member of our staff
- through an advocate or representative
- by letter
- by email
All our contact information can be found on this website or by calling 01280 821334.
If your complaint is of a very serious nature and you would like to make a confidential written complaint to our Chief Executive, please mark the envelope Strictly Private and Confidential and address it to:
Tina Garvey
Chief Executive
Retina UK
Whiteleaf Business Centre
11 Little Balmer
Buckingham
MK18 1TF
Anonymous complaints
We deal with anonymous complaints under the same procedure; however it is better if you can provide contact details so we can tell you the outcome of our investigation.
Responsibility
The Chief Executive has overall responsibility for dealing with all complaints made about Retina UK.
We will provide as far as is reasonably practical:
- any help you need to understand the complaints procedure; or
- advice on where you may get that help.
How we handle complaints
The Chief Executive may ask one of the Senior Management Team to investigate a complaint; that person will have enough seniority and experience to deal with the issues raised by the complaint.
We will acknowledge a complaint within five working days and give you the name and contact details of the person investigating it.
We will keep you informed about the progress of the investigation. We aim to have all complaints finished within 28 working days unless we agree a different time scale with you.
When we have finished investigating, we will write to you with:
- details of the findings;
- any action we have taken; and
- our proposals to resolve your complaint.
Time limits
You should complain as soon as you can after the date on which the event occurred or came to your notice. If you complain more than twelve months later, we may not be able to investigate properly. We shall however consider whether you had good reason for not making the complaint sooner and whether, despite the delay, it is still possible to investigate the complaint effectively and fairly.
Further steps
At any stage during the process, if you are not happy with the way Retina UK is dealing with a serious complaint you can contact The Charity Commission. The Charity Commission defines a serious complaint as the charity:
- not doing what it claims to do
- losing lots of money
- harming people
- being used for personal profit or gain
- involved in illegal activity
You can contact the Charity Commission by calling 0300 066 9197 or visiting its website at charitycommission.gov.uk.
If you are unhappy with the way we are dealing with a fundraising complaint, you can contact the Fundraising Regulator.
Contact the Fundraising Regulator to complain about:
- the way you’ve been asked for donations
- how fundraisers have behaved
You can also complain on behalf of someone else.
You can contact the Fundraising Regulator by calling 0300 999 3407 or email enquiries@fundraisingregulator.org.uk.
If you are unhappy with the way we are dealing with an advertising complaint you can contact the Advertising Standards Authority:
Contact the Advertising Standards Authority to complain about:
- an advertising campaign you think is offensive, deceptive or inaccurate
- the amount of emails or mail you get from a charity
You can contact the Advertising Standards Authority by calling 020 7492 2222 or visit its website to submit an online enquiry at asa.org.uk.
If you have a complaint about how we have processed your personal data, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) via their website: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ or by calling 0303 123 1113.
We can provide this policy in other languages, formats or font size on request. Please call 01280 821334 to discuss this.
