| ACTO professional conduct guidelines Guidelines for Making a Complaint IMPORTANT
NOTE: The Acto Professional Conduct Panel, like those of other counselling
organisations, has no power to order any kind of financial compensation
from the therapist to the client. Their role would be to impose clinical sanctions
which may restrict the counsellor's practice and require the member to undertake
further training and/or supervision HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT Begin by sending an email to the Acto Professional Conduct Officer, saying that you wish to make a formal complaint. The Professional Conduct Officer (PCO) will respond by inviting you to write a full account of your complaint and will also inform your therapist that this is happening. From this point on, you and your therapist should have no direct contact with each other. You will need to show which of the clauses in the Acto Code of Ethics you think your therapist has broken and supply evidence (e.g. copies of emails). You will have 10 working days in which to do this. The PCO will acknowledge this and will then send a copy of your complaint to your therapist, inviting them to send a written response. This response will also have to be received by the PCO within 10 working days and you will receive a copy of it. After this point no new evidence may be submitted other than in exceptional circumstances. Once a complaint is under way it is the responsibility of both therapist and complainant to keep the PCO fully informed of any periods when they know they will be out of internet contact and unable to respond to emails within the stated time limits STAGES OF THE COMPLAINT PROCEDURE Mediation When a formal complaint has been made and a response received from the therapist both parties will be invited to explore mediation as this could provide an outcome acceptable to both parties without the need for a formal complaint hearing. Mediation will be carried out entirely online and proceedings will be kept confidential between the parties concerned and the mediator. Once a complaint has been received ACTO will notify the mediation service, InvolveNorthwest (Wirral Mediation Service) who will contact both parties within 3 working days. The mediators will send both parties information about the service, how it works and what it can achieve. They will also, with both parties' permission, receive from ACTO copies of the complaint and of the therapist's response. Both parties will be required to receive and read the information they will be sent about mediation but may then choose to use the service or to reject it. The parties have 7 working days in which to respond. if there is no response within this time from either party it will be deemed that the complainant does not wish to pursue the complaint or that the therapist accepts that the complaint is justified If both respond then the mediator will engage with both parties within 7 working days. A series of e-mails will then be exchanged between the mediator and both parties, to gather any additional information and to decide whether a 'face to face' online meeting will take place, or whether working via the mediator is preferable . All parties are requested to reply to e-mails within 2 working days, during this part of the process. Whether agreement is to be reached by ‘Face to face' mediation or through the mediator the agreement should be in place within the next 7 working days. The mediation service will lodge a copy of the agreement with ACTO, with copies to both parties and stay in support of the agreement should the complainant or the counselor feel the need for ongoing support regarding the process that they had been through. If parties are unwilling to move from their position or requested outcomes become unrealistic the Complainant will be offered the opportunity to take the complaint to a Formal Hearing.Professional Conduct Hearing The PCO will appoint two other people, both therapists, with whom to form a Panel which will look at your complaint and at your therapist's response and come to a decision as to whether the complaint is valid and can be upheld. They will have 5 working days in which to read the submissions and make their decision Decision The decision will be in the form of a Report which will be sent to you and to your therapist within 3 working days of making their decision. If the Panel decides that your complaint cannot be upheld, they will write to this effect to you and to your therapist. You cannot appeal against this decision. If the Panel decides that the complaint is valid and can be upheld they will decide what sanctions to impose upon your therapist and these will be stated in the Report. You are required to respond to the Report within 5 working days If
you have any questions about this procedure, please address them to the PCO. |
