Strategic Complaints Management

Verita provides independent complaint handling solutions to enhance service quality & compliance in your sector

Independent complaint handling service

With over 15 years of experience in resolving complex regulatory issues through expert complaint management services, Verita stands at the forefront of ensuring organisational integrity and public trust.

Whether you need help resolving an immediate crisis, day-to-day outsourcing, support clearing a backlog, or specialist training for your internal teams, we can help.

We believe that we have the experience and the knowledge to deliver an open and impartial independent complaint review (ICR) service that treats both parties fairly and in accordance with both the law and the principles of natural justice.

Whether in a private or public sector organisation, our independent reviews offer actionable recommendations that align with both industry best practices and regulatory requirements.

To find out more about our strategic complaints handling services, please book a free consultation or simply call us on 020 7494 5670 to discuss how we can help your organisation.

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Proactive health check & cultural diagnostic

Most organisations want to ensure their complaints process reflects a healthy workplace culture and shields them from systemic failure, especially in busy operational environments. We have extensive experience in culture management to proactively manage and evolve culture to prevent issues and sustain a positive environment.

Our complaints handling service provides managers and leaders with early warning signs of quality or performance issues by assessing assurance processes, customer service standards and defence standards to ensure complete regulatory compliance, mitigate systemic risk, and protect your organisation’s reputation.

What Our Clients Say About Us

“Verita is the undisputed market leader for investigations and reviews.”

“I would like to thank Verita for both their time and commitment in working with us to investigate and consider the issues raised; it has been an interesting and valuable experience.”

Why partner with Verita for complaints management?

Complaints can act as a critical barometer of the safety and quality within an organisation. They can be a helpful way to identify when things are going wrong at an early stage.

We have comprehensive experience of driving continuous improvement and promoting change. After all, it is rare for there to be a complaint, but no learning. This applies to complaints that are rejected just as much as those that are upheld.

There are serious consequences to complaints not being dealt with adequately:

Reduction in public trust
Unwelcome media attention
Added burden, sapping time and resource from other pressing and important tasks
Escalation to financial claims
Compliance or enforcement action by regulators
Litigation and damaged relationship with commissioning boards

Working with us helps to reduce the risk of legal action and damage to brand reputation, improve customer satisfaction, and saves internal resources. Our objective and impartial perspective provides strategic oversight that not only resolves immediate issues but can also protect your organisation against future challenges.

We manage our projects carefully to ensure that they meet the requirements of clients as to issues such as timeliness and budget. If a complaint requires an investigation our expert independent investigators can mobilise quickly to provide a robust report.

Our Clients

Below are some of the clients we have worked with – spanning the healthcare, business to government, education and charity sectors

Complex complaints handling: Our key service areas

Verita is experienced in dealing with all areas of complex complaints. The key aspects of our services are:

Early Detection & Resolution:

Our tailored complaint analysis helps identify underlying issues in their early stages, protecting your organisation from reputational damage.

Regulatory Alignment:

We ensure your complaint management systems meet stringent regulatory standards, maintaining compliance while improving service delivery.

Performance Metrics:

Our comprehensive evaluation process measures six key indicators: board recognition, system efficiency/quality, resource allocation, learning potential, team design effectiveness, and user experience enhancement.

But when is a complaint considered to be complex? Here are some examples of complex complaints we have handled for our clients:

Multi-party disputes: Involving various stakeholders or departments.
High-reputational risk: Issues that could lead to media scrutiny or legal action.
Clinical or Technical sensitivity: Where standard customer service protocols are insufficient.
Historical or “Legacy” issues: Complaints that have spanned years.

Case Study: Overhauling Complaints Systems to Restore Board Assurance & Accountability

When a large national charity’s internal processes failed to resolve complex grievances, Verita was commissioned to provide an independent, third-stage adjudication. We identified that surface-level resolutions were masking systemic failures in accountability and escalation.

Our independent review provided the Board of Trustees with the objective evidence needed to overhaul their governance. By acting as the final internal arbiter, we restored transparency and satisfied external regulators, preventing further escalation to the Ombudsman.

Improving organisational health

Rather than being simply an operational issue for a customer service team, a spike in complaints often symbolises a fractured workplace culture. We work with Boards of corporate organisations, charities and education institutions to use internal complaints data as an early warning system for a toxic culture before it becomes a serious issue.

Our specialised approach transforms complaints from potential risks into valuable insights for systemic improvement. Handling complaints effectively can provide valuable strategic insights into how service quality and regulatory compliance can be improved.

Complaints regarding staff conduct, bullying, or systemic failure are heavily scrutinised under recent legislation like the Worker Protection Act. Verita’s workplace complaints handling service gives leaders the independent expertise needed to meet this standard.

We quality assure your existing reporting channels, map your risk data, provide thematic reviews, and deliver diagnostic health checks to identify improvements to ensure your systems are actively preventative.

Deep regulatory knowledge

We have extensive knowledge of the wider Ombudsman landscape and the regulatory framework – in our work for lottery providers we stand as an intermediary level of appeal between internal mechanisms and the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman.

If the complainant is unhappy with our findings they retain the right to appeal to that Ombudsman and a number of our reports have been subject to that review. We therefore strive to ensure that our work meets their standards. Over the 10 years we have carried out this service, we have never been criticised by the Ombudsman.

Our extensive complaints resolution experience

Our team consists of members with extensive and high-level experience of complaints management, including those who have chaired statutory inquiries and served parliament to lead national teams and high profile investigations delivering systemic improvements in complaints handling.

In order to resolve a complaint an investigation may be required. We understand the right way to investigate complaints is by taking a team approach, rather than working as individuals.

The team consists of experienced healthcare staff who can independently manage individual complaints within national and local guidance. We provide a flexible tailored approach to meet the specific needs of your service. This could include providing support to a trust complaints manager or a more comprehensive service such as a review of trust policy and procedure.

Our practice is to appoint a lead investigator, with their work peer reviewed by another member of the team before being issued.

How Verita can help

Extensive complaints management experience

As our corporate CV sets out, we have extensive experience of the independent review of complaints and of testing processes and making recommendations for improvement. Verita is a trusted partner in this field across government, regulated organisations and the private sector.

Our team consists of members with high-level experience of complaints management, including those who have chaired statutory inquiries and served parliament, leading national teams and high profile investigations to deliver systemic improvements in complaints handling.

Strong analytical, critical reasoning and judgement skills for complex issues

Much of our complaints handling work deals with complex issues. We have a track record of weighing the most complex evidence to pull out the key issue and make reasoned judgements.

In many of our cases we act as the liaison between the employer and member of staff to mediate and resolve issues. In cases we carry out for the British Council and lottery funded organisations we mediate between the public body and the complainant to achieve a mutually acceptable conclusion, where possible.

Evidence-based reports and experience of reporting at Board level

Verita’s reports often deal with the most sensitive and important issues. We frequently have to make difficult decisions on the interpretation and analysis of evidence and subsequently present the outputs at the highest level – whether to Boards, regulators or government departments.

Our evidence-led findings are designed to stand up to the most rigorous regulatory scrutiny. When the stakes are high, our report provides the objective clarity needed to make definitive decisions.

Independent Third-Stage Complaint Reviews & Adjudication

If your complaints process has reached its final stage but the complainant remains dissatisfied, an independent adjudication is the most effective way to restore trust and provide a fair outcome.

We are specialists in complex cases that require a high degree of objectivity, providing recommendations for systemic improvement to prevent recurrence. Our thorough reviews often provide the clarity needed to satisfy a complainant before they seek regulatory intervention from the Ombudsman.

Proven strong interpersonal, ambassadorial, and negotiating skills

Complaints can provoke a lot of emotions, whether in the person complaining or in the organisation being complained about. We have a great deal of experience of working with people in difficult circumstances to enable them to tell their story and feel that they have been heard.

The outcomes of our work often deliver a result that differs from what they wanted. Being able to persuade those involved nonetheless is something we take particular pride in.

Demonstrable commitment to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion

Fairness lies at the heart of a complaints process. That means giving all parties the opportunity to put their case. For all kinds of reasons people may need support in order to do that.

Our track record demonstrates ability to do that. We believe that this is also a benefit of team working – no two people have the same life experience, so the challenge of colleagues can help to ensure that the process is fully inclusive.

Complaints Handling - Industries We Work With

Public Sector

We act as a (Stage 3) reviewer of complaints for organisations such as the Arts Council, British Council, Sport England and the National Lottery Community Fund

Workplace

Our specialists are trained to resolve complaints of a sensitive nature, such as bullying and sexual harassment, with discretion and confidentiality

Heathcare

Verita helps healthcare providers transform patient incidents into robust, systems-based learning that protects patients and improves care

Education & Charities

We provide an objective and unbiased perspective for complaints made about staff, students or trustees, with the knowledge and skills to handle complex legal & regulatory issues

What We Say

“A complaint that is not heard by the organisation is more damaging than a complaint that is received, acknowledged and remedied.”

A senior Verita team member describing their experience of complaints handling

The Verita process: From insight to implementation

Our complaints resolution process has several clearly defined stages:

Critical Analysis and Assessment:

Utilising diagnostic tools refined through extensive work with NHS trusts, we perform thorough evaluations aligned with best practice benchmarks to review and assess each complaint, identify and highlight areas of poor clinical practice, potential clinical negligence, legal and claims issues, as well as review trust policy and procedure and introduce new guidance.

Working collaboratively and supportively:

We facilitate clear communication between parties to achieve resolutions that uphold natural justice principles. We conduct investigations into complaints in an open, non-judgemental manner that supports both complainants and staff.

Reporting Excellence:

We deliver clear evaluative reports highlighting process improvements, ensuring transparency throughout every stage.

Ombudsman Readiness:

Our findings stand robust under Ombudsman scrutiny – ensuring your defenses are prepared should further appeals arise.

We work collaboratively with staff and integrate well with complaints teams to implement long-term improvements. By choosing Verita as your partner in strategic complaint resolution, you gain an objective partner who is committed to resolving current challenges as well as providing long-term solutions to prevent problems recurring.

Our previous complaints handling work

For a customer to feel that they need to complain is a strong indication that something is not right.

Even if the complaint is based on a misunderstanding, that suggests that communication could be clearer. Our portfolio of investigations and reports demonstrates our understanding that the ultimate purpose of this process is to deliver a better service.

As well as specialising in handling complex, escalated complaints where internal processes have been exhausted, we ensure that areas of improvement are identified to improve standards of service.

Examples of our previous work include:

Providing an annual independent customer complaint review service to the General Medical Council for four years. In this role, we reviewed the quality and consistency of complaints handled by the GMC about its service, including failure to meet service standards. In this time, we provided the GMC with outputs that were fit for purpose, proportional to the needs of the organisation and provided targeted and actionable improvements. We identified areas where improvements could be made to aid the GMC in delivering the best possible service to its customers. We are pleased to see that a significant number of improvements have been implemented in subsequent years following our suggestions. We worked closely and efficiently with the GMC to deliver work of a consistently high standard to required deadlines.

Carrying out annual reviews of complaints processes and proposing improvements for organisations such as the Civil Aviation Authority and General Medical Council.

Providing training in complaints processes

Complaints handling service for a diverse range of users

In our complaints handling work we are used to working with a wide variety of complainants. Making them feel that they have been listened to is a key part of the process and essential if it is to have any value – it is not possible to guarantee a finding that is acceptable to the complainant, but essential to make them feel that they have had a fair hearing.

Proven ability to communicate clearly with a diverse range of people – it is an essential part of a fair complaints process that all those involved feel that they are able to have their voice heard, whatever their background. Within the health sector we have dealt with a full range of cases, some of which involve people with learning disabilities.

In other cases we have dealt with issues relating to discrimination – whether relating to race, sex or sexual orientation. We have a long record of making people feel that we understand what they are saying and will give them a ‘fair hearing’.

Key Team Members & Associates

Peter Killwick
Peter has 25 years of consulting experience covering a variety of strategic and operational issues in a wide range of sectors including healthcare, automotive, financial services, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications and government.

Peter has extensive complaints handling experience and was the designer of Verita’s Complaint Handling Diagnostic Tool. He is the primary contact for the British Council contract, and so plays a key role in developing their process improvement actions, screening referred complaints for suitability for independent review and then leading the work for those complaints that we investigate.

Kieren Seale
Prior to joining Verita he had a varied career including working in the planning department at London Transport, in local government and in the private sector. Kieran spent five years working in governance roles NHS commissioning in Primary Care Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), which included management of complaints processes.

Legally qualified, he has wide experience of delivering solutions to governance issues in the NHS and outside. Kieran leads Verita’s complaints work with organisations including Sport England, Arts Council and Heritage Lottery Fund. He has been guest speaker at a number of complaints conference and has designed and delivered complaints management training for NHS bodies

Thea Walton

Thea Walton is a senior leader and consultant with over 25 years’ experience overseeing handling complaints, in some of the UK’s most complex public sector environments and private sector business.

Her career spans the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme in Parliament, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, and the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, where she has led national teams, overseen high-profile investigations, and delivered systemic improvements in complaints handling and professional standards and ethics. She has also led work overseeing handling of allegations of violence against women and girls, and improving the experience of those needing to use complaints and oversight systems in a trauma informed way.

Contact Us

If you need independent support managing complaints effectively to gain strategic insights on how service quality can be improved, please book a free consultation or contact Verita founder Ed Marsden at [email protected]

Explore Our Complaints Resolution Insights