Feedback

We aim to offer a counselling service of high quality and hope that your experience of us is a positive and helpful one.  However, we recognise that unfortunately this may not always be the case and we are keen to make improvements wherever possible.  We would therefore value your feedback about any aspect of the service we provide and encourage you to contact us, whether it is in the form of a compliment, complaint or suggestion.  There are a variety of ways in which you can let us know about what you think of the service and these are as follows:

• Speak to the member of staff concerned in person or to any member of staff in the Student Enabling Centre 
• Telephone the Student Enabling Centre on 01782 294977 (Stoke) or 01785 353302 (Stafford) and speak to the member of staff concerned or to any member of staff in the Centre
• Write a letter to the member of staff concerned or to the Head of Counselling or Head of Student Enabling Centre and hand it to the receptionist at Stoke or Stafford, or post it to the Student Enabling Centre, Staffordshire University, College Road, Stoke on Trent, ST4 2DE, for the attention of the relevant member of staff
• Complete the Counselling Questionnaire to give us your feedback
• Fill in the online feedback form (which will be read initially by one of our Reception staff, who will then forward it to the appropriate member of staff and/or the Head of Counselling).  You can send this form anonymously if you would prefer - don`t fill in your details, simply type your feedback in the comments section and send.  Obviously, if you send it anonymously we will not be able to respond to you personally regarding your feedback.   

We will respond to any feedback we receive by considering the issue(s) involved and by implementing any changes that will bring about improvements, where appropriate and possible.  Although we will give serious consideration to all the feedback we receive, it may not always be possible to let you know the outcome of any suggestions you make.  If you would specifically like some feedback on your suggestion(s), please ensure that you provide us with some contact details.

In the circumstance of a complaint being made, we will aim to notify you of our initial response to the issue(s) within one week, at which stage we can agree an appropriate time-frame with you for any further action, if this is necessary.  If your complaint relates to a particular member of staff, we would encourage you to try and address this with the person concerned in the first instance.  However, if this is not possible or you would prefer not to do this, please contact the Head of Counselling on the telephone numbers or at the address given above, or by completing the online feedback form.

If you remain dissatisfied regarding your complaint having gone through the processes outlined above, or if you would prefer not to deal with the Counselling staff directly, then you are welcome to make a complaint via the Staffordshire University complaints procedure for students.

Alternatively, you can complain to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.  Visit their website for details on their Professional Conduct procedures or contact them for further information.

Any anonymous feedback you provide will be recorded in a general file.  Any identifiable feedback you provide to us will be kept in line with the Data Protection Act 1998.  As a general rule, it will remain confidential to the Student Enabling Centre, unless you specifically give your permission for us to disclose information about you and the issue(s) concerned to other relevant persons and/or organisations.  However, there may be certain circumstances where we feel it necessary or are bound by law to break this confidentiality, liaising with appropriate persons and/or organisations regarding the feedback you have provided.  (For example, because we need to liaise with others in order to address your feedback or because we are concerned about your own or someone else's wellbeing.)  Wherever possible and appropriate we would discuss such circumstances with you before taking any action.

If you are currently receiving counselling at this Centre, or have previously received counselling here and we still hold records relating to this, any identifiable feedback you provide will be added to these records, which are kept in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Centre procedures.