Making a Complaint or Raising an Issue of Concern – JCCP Guidelines

Introduction and purpose

The JCCP is committed to an open and transparent culture. Speaking up about any concern you have is important. In fact, it is essential as it will help us to keep improving the quality of our services, keep our patients and service users safe and create a positive working environment for our Registrants.

It is natural that members of the public might feel worried about raising a concern about patient care, quality or safety or about malpractice and wrongdoing, and we understand this and the JCCP is here to support you to raise and share your concerns without prejudice. The JCCP will take your concerns seriously, look into what you say, provide you with the support, advice, guidance to raise your concern.

These guidelines outline the JCCP’s approach to raising concerns, its commitment to you, and the responsibilities of all parties and describes how you can raise any concerns that you might have. We want to instil confidence amongst members of the public that the JCCP will listen to concerns raised, investigate the concern appropriately, feed back to you, thank you for raising a concern and, as appropriate, share the lessons learnt.

This guidance outlines our procedures for raising a concern or making a complaint. We would also refer members of the public to the JCCP Complaints Procedure and to the Council’s Fitness to Practise procedures

This guidance is aligned with the culture of “Being Open” as promoted by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) and in exercise of our “Duty of Candour”. The JCCP encourages members of the public to raise matters of concern they may have about the services provided by Registrants or by the JCCP itself.

The JCCP also places a responsibility on all Registrants to ensure that they are open and honest when things go wrong in the care of patients/service users and their treatment. Such responsibilities and expectations are set down in the JCCP/CPSA Code of practice

What concerns can I raise?

You can raise a concern about risk, malpractice or wrongdoing you think is harming the patients or service user we serve or the service we deliver. Just a few examples of this might include (but are by no means restricted to):

unsafe patient/client care or treatment experience
unsafe working/premises conditions
inadequate induction or training for practitioners
lack of, or poor response to a reported patient safety incident
breaches of equality standards
matters relating to inappropriate advertising of services or educational provision
unacceptable experiences relating to dignity and respect
breaches in information governance or data sharing/confidentiality

Feel safe to raise your concern

If you raise a genuine concern you will not be at risk of any form of reprisal as a result. The JCCP will not tolerate the harassment or victimisation of anyone raising a concern, nor will we tolerate any attempt to dissuade you from not raising a concern. Such behaviour is a breach of our values as an organisation and, if upheld following investigation, could result in disciplinary action for the Registrant concerned.

Confidentiality

We hope you will feel comfortable raising your concern openly, but we also appreciate you may want to raise the matter confidentially. This means that while you are willing for your identity to be known to the person you report your concern to, you do not want anyone else to know your identity. Therefore, we will keep your identity confidential, if that is what you want, unless required to disclose it by law (for example, by the police).

You can of course choose to raise your concern anonymously, without disclosing your name, but that will make it difficult for us to investigate thoroughly and to provide you with feedback on the outcome of any investigation.

Who can raise concerns?

Any member of the public, one who works (or has worked) in the non-surgical cosmetic or hair restoration surgery sector can raise concerns, this includes contractors, manufacturers, insurers, pharmacists and others.

These guidelines are written in support of the JCCP values and mission:

Values of the JCCP

Upholding Patient Safety and Public Confidence as the core driving force of the JCCP
Operating its Register of Practitioners and Education and Training Providers within a strict and agreed Code of Practice that embodies robust ethical standards to providing aesthetic treatments.
Openness, fairness and independence.
Working in partnership with patients and all key stakeholders in the aesthetic industry.
Recognising innovation and best evidenced-based practice and responding to change.

Protecting the Public

Applying strict standards for entry to the JCCP Register and for continued registration.
Approving education and training providers that deliver programmes that meet the standards.
Maintaining a register of individuals who successfully complete those programmes and accreditation procedures.
Taking action if the standards may not have been met.
Establishing clear and simple procedures to enable the public to raise issues of concern about the professional practice of registrants.
Providing simple and easily accessible information to the public considering non-surgical aesthetic treatments.

Equality & Diversity Statement

The JCCP aims to design and implement policy documents that meet the diverse needs of the service population we support and the workforce that provides those services, ensuring that none are placed at a disadvantage over others. It takes into account the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 and advances equal opportunities for all. The JCCP seeks to ensure that no one receives less favourable treatment or service on the protected characteristics of their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex (gender) or sexual orientation. In carrying out its functions, the JCCP will have due regard to the different needs of different protected equality groups.

Consumer Redress

As a member of the public you may wish to make a complaint or raise an issue of concern about a number of matters relating to the JCCP or to your experience of non-surgical cosmetic treatments and hair restoration surgery. The JCCP has a series of procedures that have been designed to enable you to present different types of complaint and to raise issues of concern.

If you wish to make a complaint about an Aesthetic Practitioner, the JCCP would always recommend that you should try to resolve the matter in the first instance with the Practitioner concerned.

All JCCP Practitioner Registrants are required to have a ‘Complaints Procedure’ in place. The JCCP recommends that you should request sight of your practitioner’s complaints procedure to assist to make a decision about how you might wish to progress your complaint. Members of the public are advised that they may also present their complaint or raise an issue of concern without prejudice directly to the JCCP as advised below.

The JCCP also recommends its registrants to have access to the ‘Cosmetic Redress Scheme’ or other authorised redress scheme but does not require this. This scheme provides an independent arbitration service to deal with complaints and breaches of consumer legislation such as perceived unfair treatment by the member to the complainant, including:

Rudeness or discourtesy
Not explaining matters
Poor or incompetent service
Avoidable delays

Members of the public are advised to ask their Aesthetic Practitioner if they are members of the Cosmetic Redress Scheme and to engage with the Redress process if they so wish.

Irrespective of these informal channels of dispute resolution members of the public are advised that they can formally present a complaint to the JCCP without compromise at any time.

Registering a Complaint

Registering a complaint about a Practitioner on the JCCP Register

This process is reserved for complaints about Practitioners who are on the JCCP Register for Practitioners. Please go to the Register to confirm that this person is on our register, identify the person, outline your complaint and send it to complaints@jccp.org.uk

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Registering a complaint about a Practitioner who is NOT on the JCCP Register

If the person you wish to make a complaint about is not on the JCCP Register you can still make a complaint or raise an issue of concern with the JCCP which will be recorded. The JCCP will then decide how this matter may be resolved. Such complaints can again be registered by emailing complaints@jccp.org.uk

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Registering a complaint about an ‘Education/Training Provider on the JCCP Register of Approved Education and Training Providers

This process is reserved for complaints about Education and Training Providers who are listed on the JCCP Register for Approved Education and Training Providers. Please go to the Register to confirm that this Education and Training Provider is on our Register, identify and outline your complaint and send it to complaints@jccp.org.uk

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Registering a complaint about an ‘Education/Training Provider NOT on the JCCP Register of Approved Education and Training Providers

This process is reserved for complaints about Education and Training Providers who are NOT on the JCCP Register for Approved Education and Training Providers. Please go to the Register to confirm that this Education and Training Provider is NOT on our register, identify and outline your complaint and send to complaints@jccp.org.uk

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Registering a complaint about the JCCP

This process is reserved for complaints about the JCCP specifically. Please go to the contact us page and use the online form to raise your complaint about the JCCP. This complaint will go to the JCCP Executive and a response will be provided within 5 working days.