Meeting complainants

Complaint handlers may decide to meet with complainants and their representatives (including family members) to discuss their complaint. It is important that these meetings are handled sensitively. It is not necessary or expected to meet with complainants in every case.

Meeting a complainant can be helpful in understanding a complaint, but complainants may find a formal meeting distressing. Therefore, it is important complaint handlers have a clear rationale for holding any meeting and consider the complainant’s wishes.

Complaint handlers should consider the following principles when arranging to meet the complainant:

• The purpose of the meeting should be explained in advance and restated at the start of the meeting (e.g. discussing complaint, investigating the complaint, sharing the outcome of the complaint etc.).

• If possible, complaint handlers should share an informal agenda in advance and invite the complainant to include any matters they would like to discuss. Complaint handlers should avoid raising new matters during the meeting. If a complainant raises a new matter during the meeting the complaint handler can respond at the time or offer to discuss this later once they have looked into the matter further.

• Complaint handlers should avoid asking complainants to revisit the substance of their complaint unless there are good reasons for doing so (e.g. clarifying the complaint). This avoids causing complainants unnecessary distress.

• There should be equity of access and representation for the complaint handler and the complainant as far as possible. There should be no more than two people present from the organisation’s side (including the complaint handler) unless there are good reasons for more people to be in attendance. These should be explained to the complainant and their representatives.

• Complaint handlers should consider the most appropriate place to conduct a meeting taking account of the wishes of the complainant as well as their own safety and the safety of others.

• Meetings should take place in private areas away from other members of the public and officers.

• Complaint handlers should offer to provide the complainant with notes or an audio recording of the meeting afterwards. Complaint handlers should not normally decline a complainant's request to make an audio recording of a meeting where the recording is to be used for their own records., However, it is reasonable to require that any recording is not shared with other people than the complainant and their representatives and that it should not be published online including on social media platforms.