1. We Are Here to Listen
DiRich Specialist Community Support Ltd, trading as DiRich Community Support, is a small team of two people offering non-regulated companionship and community support for adults aged 18 and over. We want to know if something has gone wrong, so we can put it right.
You can raise a concern about our support, charges, communication, conduct, accessibility, privacy or how we handled an earlier concern. The adult we support, their authorised representative or another person affected can raise it. There is no time limit for raising a complaint.
Raising a complaint will never lead to unfair treatment, pressure or retaliation. Any safety decision we need to make must be fair and separate from your complaint, and never a punishment for complaining.
2. How to Make a Complaint
Call us on 01283 351888 or email info@dirichsupport.com. Office hours: Monday–Friday, 8:30am–3:00pm. These are business contacts, not an emergency or out-of-hours service.
You can tell us by phone; you do not need to write a formal letter. Briefly tell us what happened, when, how it affected you and what you would like to happen. You do not need every detail.
If you need help to explain your concern, or would like our reply in a different way, please ask. We will talk about this with you; specific formats cannot be guaranteed in advance. You may ask someone to help you. Before we share private information with another person, we must check they have appropriate permission or lawful authority.
Please do not send medical, financial or identity documents unless we ask for them. Our registered office is for official post only; please contact us before sending documents.
3. What Happens Next?
We will look at your complaint fairly, consider the relevant facts and explain what we found, our reasons and any action we propose. We reply as soon as reasonably practicable, but we cannot guarantee a set response time.
We are a team of two people. If your complaint is about one of us, the other may look at it only where this can be done fairly. If both of us are involved, or there is a conflict of interest, we will tell you and we will not describe our review as independent. Please tell us if you think there is a conflict.
Our reply may include an explanation, an apology, a correction or an improvement. We cannot promise a particular outcome.
We keep short, factual records of your complaint and share them only where lawful, necessary and proportionate. We treat complaints confidentially, but we cannot promise complete secrecy where safeguarding or other legal duties require us to share information. See the Privacy Policy for your privacy rights.
4. If You Are Not Happy With Our Response
Please tell us what is still unresolved and ask us to look again. Any further look will follow the same fairness and conflict safeguards.
We do not have an independent complaints reviewer, ombudsman or external appeal scheme. You can seek independent advice, for example from Citizens Advice or a legal adviser. For data-protection concerns, see the Privacy Policy; you can also complain to the ICO. For safeguarding or suspected crime, contact the local authority or police directly.
Nothing in this procedure limits your statutory consumer rights, eligible refunds or legal remedies. You do not have to finish this procedure before taking urgent safeguarding action or complaining to the ICO.
5. Urgent Safety Concerns
Call 999 if someone is in immediate danger or needs urgent police or medical help. DiRich is not an emergency service.
Report urgent safety or abuse concerns straight away to the local-authority safeguarding service or the police. Do not wait for our reply, a complaint response or either safeguarding lead’s availability.
DiRich has a Designated Adult Safeguarding Lead and a Deputy Adult Safeguarding Lead. You can report concerns to either, but urgent action must never wait for them, especially if either is unavailable, involved or has a conflict. Complaint handling is separate from safeguarding; a complaint review is not a safeguarding or police investigation. See the Safeguarding Policy for reporting routes.