In the field a lack of clear direction for staff on how complaints and feedback should be consistently handled through a complaints and feedback policy and procedures manual (CFPPM) can lead to confusion and contribute to a poorly run system. Complaints handling is not just about policies and procedures but is also about the culture within an organisation and the behaviors and attitudes of its staff and management. However, if your organisation is starting out in accountability a CFPPM is needed to define what complaints management is, who is responsible for it and how it is to be managed. But developing a manual from scratch takes a lot of time, money and effort. Because of this we have tried to take out some of the pain by providing a CFPPM developed and tested in the field. However, before getting started it’s important to consider a few issues.
