Catherine Knibbs Ltd — covering Children and Tech and all clinical, supervision, training and consultancy services
Version 1.0 · Effective 20 June 2026 · Review date 20 June 2027 · Owner: Catherine Knibbs. CEO
We take every complaint seriously. Whether your concern is about clinical practice, clinical supervision, a course or training programme, a consultancy engagement, or any other service, we want to hear from you and to put things right where we can.
We will:
This procedure applies to complaints about any part of what we do, including:
Complaints about how we handle your personal data are dealt with under a separate, faster route: see "Data protection complaints" below.
If your complaint is about something we are not responsible for, we will tell you and, where we can, point you to the right organisation.
A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about our services, conduct, or the way we have treated you, that you would like us to respond to. It is different from general feedback or a routine query, though we welcome those too. If you are unsure, just get in touch and we will help you.
You can complain if you are directly affected, or on behalf of someone you are authorised to represent (for example, as a parent or advocate).
You can raise a complaint in whichever way suits you best:
To help us respond quickly, please include (where you can):
We can make reasonable adjustments if you need support to make a complaint, just let us know what would help.
Often the quickest way to resolve something is to raise it directly. If you feel able to, contact us and we will try to sort it out straightaway, usually within 5 working days. You do not have to start here you can go straight to a formal complaint if you prefer.
If the matter is not resolved informally, or you would rather make it formal, put your complaint in writing using any of the routes above. We will:
If we need longer (for example, because your complaint is complex), we will tell you why and give you a revised date. This is in line with Data Protection processes and we uphold to do our best to resolve things at this stage.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can ask for a review within 20 working days. A review will be carried out by Dr Catherine Knibbs / a senior person not previously involved / an independent reviewer, who will consider whether the complaint was handled fairly and the outcome was reasonable. We will respond to a review request within 20 working days. This is the final stage of our internal procedure.
We hold ourselves to the ethical and professional standards of our registering body. If your complaint concerns therapy, clinical work or supervision, we will handle it under this procedure and in line with those standards.
You also have the right to raise concerns about a registered practitioner directly with the relevant professional body at any time:
If a complaint raises a concern about someone's safety or a potential safeguarding issue, we will act on our safeguarding policy (available on request — our safeguarding arrangements are tailored to each setting rather than held as a single overarching policy) and any statutory duties immediately, which may mean we cannot keep the matter confidential and this may also need to be considered in light of data protection as safeguarding is the most important aspect of keeping someone safe.
Complaints about our training, courses, supervision groups and toolkits are handled under this procedure. Requests about payments, cancellations or refunds are dealt with under the relevant Booking terms / Course terms / Drop In clinic terms.
Complaints about consultancy, safeguarding audits, speaking or advisory work are handled under this procedure. Where an engagement has its own contract or terms, those terms and this procedure are read together.
This section meets the data-protection complaint-handling requirements introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, in force from 19 June 2026.
If you believe we have not handled your personal information in line with data protection law, whether that is your own information, or that of someone you are authorised to act for you can make a data protection complaint. Please raise it with us first, so we have the opportunity to put things right; you can always go to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) afterwards if you are not satisfied.
How to make a data protection complaint:
What we will do:
Your right to go to the ICO: You can complain to the ICO at any time, though we encourage you to come to us first. The ICO is the UK's independent regulator for data protection.
For more about how we use your personal data, see our Privacy Policy.
| Stage | We will… | Within |
|---|---|---|
| Informal (Stage 1) | Try to resolve directly | 5 working days |
| Formal (Stage 2) | Acknowledge your complaint | 5 working days |
| Formal (Stage 2) | Send our full response | 20 working days of acknowledgement |
| Review (Stage 3) | Respond to a review request | 20 working days |
| Data protection complaint | Acknowledge | 30 days (statutory) |
| Data protection complaint | Tell you the outcome | Without undue delay |
We keep a record of complaints and how they were resolved. We handle this information confidentially and in line with data protection law and our Privacy Policy, sharing it only with those who need it to investigate or resolve the complaint, or where we are legally or professionally required to do so. We keep complaint records for 6 years and then securely delete them.
We will always consider anonymous complaints, though it may limit how fully we can investigate or respond if this were to breach confidential services such as clinical work. If you complain on someone else's behalf, we may need their consent or evidence (assessed for cybercrime/social engineering tactics) with your authority to act for them before we can share information with you.
We treat everyone with respect and ask for the same in return. In the rare cases where a complaint is pursued in an abusive, threatening or unreasonably persistent way, we may restrict contact or decline to take a complaint further, and we will explain our reasons in writing.
If, at any point, a complaint suggests a child or adult may be at risk of harm, we will follow our safeguarding policy (available on request — our safeguarding arrangements are tailored to each setting rather than held as a single overarching policy) and any statutory duties without delay. This may mean we share information with the relevant authorities and cannot keep the matter confidential.
We review complaints and their outcomes to improve our services, and we review this procedure annually, or sooner if the law or guidance changes.
Catherine Knibbs Ltd company no. 14647646Complaints, Catherine Knibbs Ltd, 3 West Parade, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF1 1LT Email: contact@catherineknibbs.co.uk