1. Purpose

This procedure outlines the process for receiving, handling, and resolving customer complaints and feedback at Patients Know Best (PKB). The objective is to ensure that all complaints and feedback are addressed promptly, fairly, and transparently, ensuring that customer concerns are logged, investigated, and resolved in a timely manner, and that outcomes are used to improve the PKB product.

2. Scope

This procedure applies to all complaints and feedback received from patients, healthcare professionals, and other customers who use PKB’s services. It covers all stages of the complaints process, from initial receipt through to resolution and follow-up. The scope includes:

• All types of customer feedback, including informal feedback, suggestions for improvement, and formal complaints.

• Complaints received through all communication channels, including email, phone, and web forms.

• Internal roles responsible for managing the process include the Support Team, Quality Manager, and senior management.

It does not include internal employee grievances, which are handled through a separate process.

This procedure applies to all PKB staff and is relevant for any third parties or partners involved in delivering customer services on behalf of PKB.

3. Definitions

• Complaint: A formal expression of dissatisfaction or concern raised by a customer, patient, or user regarding any aspect of the services, products, or support provided by Patients Know Best.

• Feedback: Any informal or formal input provided by staff, customers, patients, or users regarding their experiences with PKB’s services or products.

• Escalation: The process of moving a complaint or unresolved issue to a higher level of authority within PKB when the initial response does not satisfactorily resolve the issue. This may involve passing the case to senior management or an external body if required.

• Resolution: The final outcome of the complaint or feedback process, where the issue raised has been fully addressed to the satisfaction of both the initiator and PKB.

4. Procedure for Handling Complaints

4.1 Receiving Complaints

Patients, healthcare professionals, and other users can submit complaints via the support form on the PKB website or by sending an email to help@patientsknowbest.com. Once received, all complaints are logged into PKB’s helpdesk software system, where they are assigned a unique reference number for tracking and future follow-up. The system records key details such as the nature of the complaint, date of submission, contact details of the complainant, and any relevant documentation provided.

In addition to these central channels, local project-specific complaints can also be submitted directly to the Project Manager (PM) working on the relevant project. These local complaints are logged by the PM and entered into the same helpdesk system to ensure consistent tracking, escalation, and follow-up.

4.2 Acknowledgment

PKB aims to acknowledge the receipt of all complaints within one working day. An acknowledgment email is sent to the complainant, confirming that their concern has been logged and is under review.

4.3 Investigation

Once a complaint is logged, it is assigned to an appropriate member of the Support Team. The investigation begins with a review of all relevant information provided by the complainant. The Support Team has direct access to a dedicated technical support team (developers) who can triage queries, ensuring technical issues are identified and prioritised for resolution. If necessary, issues can be escalated to the PKB Account Manager.

For straightforward technical or service-related problems, the Support Team typically resolves the complaint. However, more complex complaints, or those involving potential systemic issues, are escalated to the PKB Account Manager or senior management for a deeper investigation. Throughout this process, regular updates are provided to the complainant to keep them informed of progress.

4.4 Resolution

PKB strives to resolve complaints within 7 working days from the date of receipt. The resolution process may involve corrective actions such as providing technical fixes, clarifications or signposting to appropriate external bodies. Once a resolution has been reached, the customer is informed of the outcome via email with clear explanations of the steps taken to address their concerns. Feedback is sought from the complainant on whether they are satisfied with the resolution provided. All resolutions are recorded in helpdesk software solution for future analysis.

4.5 Escalation Process

If a complaint cannot be resolved at the initial support level or if the complainant is dissatisfied with the resolution provided, the issue is escalated to senior management for further review. For unresolved or highly sensitive cases, the complaint may be reviewed by the CEO as a final escalation point. If necessary, particularly for complaints involving regulatory concerns such as data protection, PKB will consult its external Data Protection Officer and the complainant may be informed of their right to escalate the issue to an external body such as the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). PKB ensures that all escalated complaints receive the appropriate attention and are handled with transparency and fairness.

4.6 Review of Complaints

Complaints are reviewed at two levels depending on their scope:

• Project or customer-specific Issues: Local complaints related to specific projects or customers are managed through a tiered process. These complaints are first raised with the Project Manager (PM), who will attempt to resolve them. If further action is needed, the issue is escalated to the Regional Success Manager (RSM) and, if necessary, to the Senior Responsible Officer (SRO). These issues are tracked on project-specific issue logs and reviewed during weekly meetings involving the PM, RSM, and SRO to ensure timely resolution.

• Company-wide Issues: Broader complaints that impact the entire organisation or multiple departments are escalated to senior management for review. The Customer Operations Team oversees this process and reports on the performance and outcomes of escalated complaints. These company-wide issues are analysed for trends, and recommendations for service delivery improvements are made to relevant departmental heads.

For both local and company-wide complaints, the aim is to address the root cause, implement necessary changes, and ensure continuous improvement. Regular performance reviews and issue logs are used to monitor complaint handling, with outcomes reported to senior management.

5. Feedback Process

5.1 Collection of Feedback

Patients Know Best (PKB) gathers general feedback from users and staff through multiple channels. Customers are invited to provide feedback via Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) surveys, which are distributed periodically to assess their experiences with PKB's services and products.

For project issues in deployment, the dedicated project team will log these directly onto the Patients Know Best (PKB) product prioritisation tracker, where they will be updated as the issue progresses, feeding back to the customer at the regular project calls, meetings and update emails. Any issue or complaint can be escalated to the Account Manager, who will be responsible for seeing the issue through to resolution.

Patients Know Best regularly hosts patient user groups to gather structured feedback directly from users. While the primary purpose of these groups is to facilitate open discussions about our products and services, any concerns or issues raised during these sessions that require formal action will be logged and reviewed regularly as part of our continuous improvement efforts.

In addition, an internal Universal Feedback Form is available for the support team to log any feedback received during helpdesk interactions, including suggestions and comments from users. PKB staff members can also use this form to document feedback from their customer interactions or suggestions for service or product improvements. All feedback, regardless of its source, is centrally logged in PKB's feedback management system to ensure it is properly tracked and reviewed.

5.2 Use of Feedback

The feedback collected is regularly reviewed by the product team, which analyses trends, recurring issues, and suggestions for potential improvements.

This analysis helps identify areas where enhancements can be made to the product, services, or customer support. Actions taken as a result of feedback are documented, and these improvements are tracked as part of PKB's continual improvement process. Corrective actions are implemented based on complaint trends or recurring issues to ensure process improvements and prevent recurrence, with periodic reports on feedback trends shared with management and relevant teams to ensure ongoing alignment with customer needs and expectations.

6. Retention of Records

All records related to complaints and feedback, including communications, investigation details, and resolutions, are securely stored in PKB’s helpdesk software. These records are retained in accordance with PKB’s Data Retention Policy, ensuring that they are available for future reference, audits, and management reviews. The policy specifies the retention periods for different types of records, and after this period, records will be archived or securely deleted, in line with legal and organisational requirements.

7. Confidentiality and Data Protection

PKB ensures that all complaints and feedback are handled in compliance with the company’s Data Protection Policy, including adherence to GDPR requirements. Personal data collected as part of the complaints process is processed securely and only for the purposes outlined in the policy.

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