Mwanga Mental Health Assessment Hub

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Complaints and compliments

If something has gone wrong, we would rather hear it from you than not hear it at all. And if something has gone well, telling us helps us know what to keep doing.

Raising a concern will not affect your care

You will not be treated differently, and your assessment or support will not be withdrawn or delayed, because you have complained. If you would rather someone else raised it on your behalf, that is fine, and we will need your written permission to discuss your information with them.

Who can complain

People we assess or support

Anyone who has used, or tried to use, any part of the service.

Families, carers and representatives

With the person’s written consent, or where they lack capacity to consent and it is in their best interests.

Referrers and partners

Local authorities, solicitors, GPs, pharmacies and other organisations we work with.

How to complain

Contact us in whatever way is easiest for you. You do not need to use a form or particular wording, and you do not need to call it a complaint.

  • By telephone 07351 334067
  • By email mwanga2026ass@gmail.com
  • By post Registered Manager, Mwanga Mental Health Assessment Hub,
    7 Alexandra Road, Blackpool, FY1 6BU
  • In person Ask to speak to the Registered Manager at any appointment.

Complaints are handled by the Registered Manager. Where the complaint concerns the Registered Manager, it will be handled by another senior person who was not involved.

What helps us look into it

Tell us whatever you can. Missing detail will not stop us investigating.

  • Your name and how to reach you
  • The name of the person the complaint is about, if it concerns someone specific
  • What happened, and roughly when
  • Who was involved, if you know
  • What you would like us to do about it

Please raise a complaint within twelve months of what happened, or within twelve months of realising there was a problem. We will still consider older complaints where it is practical to investigate them properly.

What happens next

We follow the same steps every time, so you know where you stand.

  1. We acknowledge it three working days

    We confirm we have received your complaint, tell you who is dealing with it, and agree how you would like to be kept informed.

  2. We agree the scope

    We check we have understood what you are complaining about and what outcome you are hoping for. If a complaint is complex, we will tell you how long we expect it to take.

  3. We investigate

    We review records, speak to the people involved, and look at whether we followed our own policies. If we need more information from you, we will ask.

  4. We respond in writing twenty working days

    You receive a written response setting out what we found, whether your complaint is upheld, and what we are changing as a result. If we cannot respond within twenty working days, we will tell you why and give you a new date.

  5. We act on it

    Where we got something wrong, we say so and apologise. Changes we make are recorded and reviewed, so the same thing does not happen to someone else.

  6. You can ask us to look again

    If you are not satisfied with our response, tell us within twenty-eight days and someone not previously involved will review it.

If you are still not satisfied

Please complete our complaints process first. Working through it gives us the chance to put things right, and gives you a written response setting out what we found. If you are unhappy once that process has finished, you can take your complaint further using the routes below.

Raising a concern as a worker

If you work for Mwanga, or with us as a contractor, sessional clinician or volunteer, and you have a concern about safety, conduct or wrongdoing, you can raise it without fear of losing work or being treated badly. Speak to the Registered Manager, or, if that is not appropriate ontact the CQC directly. Workers who raise concerns in the public interest are protected by law under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

  • Care Quality Commission The CQC cannot investigate individual complaints, but it wants to hear about concerns regarding the quality or safety of care, and it uses that information in its regulation. Contact details are at cqc.org.uk.
  • Nursing and Midwifery Council If your complaint concerns the professional conduct of a registered nurse, you can raise it with the NMC at nmc.org.uk.
  • Information Commissioner’s Office If your complaint is about how we have handled your personal information, you can complain to the ICO at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113. See our privacy notice.
  • Local authority or funder Where your assessment was arranged and paid for by a local authority or another organisation, you can also complain to them directly.
  • Advocacy You can ask an independent advocate to support you. Your local council can tell you what advocacy is available in your area.

Compliments

Complaints tell us what to fix. Compliments tell us what to protect. Both are useful, and the second one is easy to forget to send.

If a member of staff handled something well, if a report made a difference, or if being in one of our rooms felt easier than you expected, we would like to know. It goes to the person concerned, and it goes into our records as evidence of what is working.

You can send a compliment the same way you would send a complaint by telephone, email, post, or in person. If you would rather say it publicly, our Facebook page is open for that.

Send us feedback

What we do with feedback

  • Every complaint and compliment is recorded in a single log
  • The log is reviewed regularly to look for patterns rather than one-off events
  • Themes and actions are reported to those responsible for governance
  • Changes we make as a result are recorded, so we can show what improved
  • Learning is shared with the whole team, not just the people involved

We keep complaint records separately from clinical records. Making a complaint does not change your assessment or your report.

If you need help urgently

Our complaints process is not an emergency route. If you or someone else is at immediate risk, call 999. For urgent mental health support, call 111 and choose the mental health option, or the Samaritans free on 116 123.

If you are worried about the safety of a child or an adult at risk, contact Blackpool Council’s safeguarding team or the police.