We can deal with complaints or concerns about :
Unless there are exceptional circumstances, we will not consider complaints about something that happened more than two years ago, or about something you became aware of more than two years ago.
You have to complain in writing, using our complaint form. If this is likely to be a problem, you can ask someone to fill the form in for you. Or you can contact us by phoning 020 3327 2720 and we will do our best to arrange for someone to help you.
We have to decide whether to deal with the complaint informally, or by following our formal procedures. Dealing with the complaint informally means that one of our staff will ask you what you want the registrant to do, and then ask the registrant to agree to do it. For example, you may just want the registrant to apologise to you. There are some types of complaint that we cannot deal with informally. These include (among other things) complaints about:
conduct that falls well below the standard expected of a registrant
abuse of trust (including financial exploitation), stepping outside ‘professional boundaries’, and predatory or manipulative behaviour
lapses in professional competence
If a complaint is not one of the nine types listed above, and it does not include any suggestion that a client might have been at risk of harm, it will probably be suitable to be dealt with informally.
When a complaint made by a client of a CNHC registrant (or someone acting on behalf of a client) is suitable to be dealt with informally, we will ask them to agree before we offer the registrant the opportunity to deal with the complaint in this way. If the complaint is made by another therapist, or a member of the public who has no personal experience of the registrant, we will not ask for their agreement.
If the client or the registrant does not agree that the complaint should be dealt with informally, or if we get other information that changes the nature of the complaint, we will start our formal procedures.
When the client and the registrant do agree that the complaint should be dealt with informally, we usually expect the matter to be settled within four weeks. If not we will start our formal procedures
There are four key stages in our formal procedures:
Hearings of the Conduct and Competence Panel take place in private, in central London. Before the hearing takes place, we will invite you to make a ‘statement of evidence’.We will ask you if you are willing for a solicitor to:
We will ask you to give evidence at the hearing and will arrange overnight accommodation for you if you need it.We will pay for that and your agreed travel costs. A member of CNHC staff will be at the hearing to answer any questions you have, though they will not be able to discuss the case with you.
During the hearing the panel listens to all the evidence and decides whether CNHC has proved its case against the registrant. If the case is proved, the panel can either decide to take no further action or to impose one of the following ‘sanctions’:
The purpose of sanctions is not to punish the registrant but to protect the public. Before the hearing takes place, the registrant can choose to admit all the details of the complaint and suggest a suitable sanction. This is known as consensual disposal. If the CNHC accepts the suggestion, you will not be required to attend the hearing. Whatever the outcome of the case we will send you and the registrant a copy of the decision and the reasons for it.
The Health Panel meets in private.
The arrangements for your evidence are the same as those for Conduct and Competence Panel hearings.
If the CNHC case is proved, the panel can either decide to take no further action or to impose one of the following sanctions:
Again, the purpose of these sanctions is not to punish the registrant but to protect the public
This information can be downloaded as a leaflet: How CNHC deals with complaints
(PDF)