• Anyone affected by an action or inaction on the part of MSF UK, its trustees, staff or volunteers can make a complaint.
   
• If, for any reason, you are unable to make the complaint yourself, a representative (such as a friend or family member) may complain on your behalf. In this case your representative should explain why you are unable to make the complaint yourself. We may need to contact you directly to confirm that you have consented to your representative acting on your behalf.

• If the issue relates to a specific service or individual you are already in contact with, where appropriate, in the first instance you should seek to resolve the matter directly with the individuals concerned.
   
• If the issue remains unresolved, you can make a formal complaint to MSF UK using one of the following methods:
  
  (a) By emailing the following address: complaints@london.msf.org
  
  (b) By letter addressed to: Complaints, MSF UK, Level 5, Units 12-13, Artesian, 9 Prescot Street, London, E1 8AZ; or
  
  (c) By telephone on: +44.20.7404.6600
   

• Your formal complaint will be managed by one of the following individuals:
  
  (a) the Supporter Care Manager, with support of other colleagues, for complaints from our supporters and members of the public which do not relate to safeguarding or the conduct of MSF UK employees;
  
  (b) the Lead Safeguarding Officer, for complaints from individuals that MSF has assisted or complaints about such assistance provided to an individual;
  
  (c) the Head of Employee Relations if the complaint relates to the conduct of an MSF UK employee; or 

  
  (d) the Company Secretary, for all other complaints.

• To help us resolve the issue efficiently and fairly, it would be helpful if you could provide the following information in your complaint:
  
  (a) Your full name;
  
  (b) Your contact details (including address, email address and telephone number);
  
  (c) How you would like us to contact you in relation to your complaint;
  
  (d) Your relationship to MSF UK (i.e. donor, assisted person);
  
  (e) A detailed description of your complaint and what you think went wrong, including dates and times of any reported incidents;
  
  (f) Details of what you have done to try and resolve the issue so far;
  
  (g) What you think we should do to resolve the matter
  
  (h) Any issues around confidentiality in relation to the individual(s) complained about, MSF’s Operational Centres and/or third parties; and
  
  (i) Copies of any documents related to the complaint.
   
• We appreciate that individuals may wish to make a complaint on an anonymous basis. MSF UK will take all reasonable steps to investigate all complaints, including those made on an anonymous basis. However, we do ask that individuals making a complaint provide their name and contact details wherever possible, as without this information it will be difficult for MSF UK to fully investigate the complaint, it will make it harder for us to verify information relating to the alleged incident(s) and will prevent us from being able to update you on the progress of our investigations.
   
• You can ask us to keep your identity confidential and specify any other aspects of the complaint that are sensitive. We will discuss with you what details we are able to disclose as part of MSF’s investigation process. We note that our legal and regulatory obligations may mean that we are obliged to disclose the existence and nature of your complaint. We only do so on an anonymised basis, although there may be instances where we are compelled to provide further detail.
   
• MSF UK will take reasonable steps to investigate all complaints, including historic complaints. However, we do ask that, where possible, complaints be made as soon as reasonably possible after the event being complained about. Depending on the circumstances and the nature of the complaint, the passage of time may mean that it is harder for us to verify information relating to the alleged incident(s).

• All complaints will be dealt with as efficiently as possible. We aim to acknowledge receipt of complaints within five working days of receipt and provide a full response within 30 days of receipt.
   
• Any complaints regarding MSF UK’s use of your personal data will be acknowledged within 30 days.
   
• Where MSF UK needs to work with a relevant Operational Directorate to investigate and resolve the complaint, we aim to provide a full response within 60 working days of receipt of the complaint. This may be the case where:
  • a complaint is from a person assisted by an MSF project in the field, and/or;
  • the complaint relates to an MSF UK funded project or involves MSF UK contracted field staff.
     
• If your complaint does not relate to MSF UK, we will direct you to the appropriate contact at the MSF entity that your complaint concerns.
   
• At each stage of the complaints process we will advise you as soon as possible if we need to extend the timescales set out above. This includes, for example, if a key member of staff is unavailable, or if further investigations are needed to resolve the complaint fairly.
   
• Your complaint will be logged by the Supporter Care Manager, Lead Safeguarding Lead, Head of Employee Relations or the Company Secretary. If your complaint relates to the individual who would otherwise have managed your complaint, the complaint will be managed by another senior member of staff who has not previously been involved in the matters alleged.
   
• Where a complaint relates to an individual (or a group of individuals) who work for MSF UK as trustees, staff or volunteers, we will normally inform them of the complaint made against them and give them an opportunity to respond.
   
• Where a complaint is particularly serious (for example, if it relates to a crime or there is an allegation of serious harm to an individual), it will be notified to MSF UK’s Reporting Coordinator, who, along with the Subject Matter Expert of the nature of the Serious Incident, will consider whether the complaint should be reported to any other third party, such as the police service, other authority and/or the Charity Commission. If appropriate, we may ask a third party outside of MSF UK to investigate the complaint. This may be necessary, for example, where the nature of the complaint means that it is not possible for us to deal with it impartially within MSF UK.
   
• Where a complaint concerns a particular decision, the implementation of that decision will not usually be suspended unless there are exceptional circumstances. Exceptions will be determined at the sole discretion of MSF UK or the relevant Operational Directorate. 

• We will tell you the outcome of your complaint (using your chosen method of communication), including reasons for the decision made.
   
• If your complaint is upheld, we will explain the steps we are taking to put things right. This may include reviewing a particular decision and/or putting measures in place to rectify or remedy the position and/or avoid it happening again in future.
   
• If your complaint is not upheld or you are unhappy with the resolution offered, you may ask for your complaint to be internally reviewed. They will consider the investigation and response provided by the original decision-maker in respect of your complaint and may ask for further information about why you think that decision was unfair. Internal reviews will be carried out by the Company Secretary in the first instance, or if the initial complaint was handled by the Company Secretary, the review will be carried out by the Deputy Executive Director. If the Deputy Executive Director has been involved in the matter complained of or its original resolution, your complaint will be reviewed by the Executive Director, or if the Executive Director has been involved in the matter complained of or its original decision, a member of the Board of Trustees if will oversee the appointment of an appropriate alternative individual to conduct the review. 
   
• We will tell you the outcome of this review (using your chosen method of communication), including reasons for the decision made. If your complaint is upheld upon internal review, we will explain the steps we are taking to put things right.
   
• If you are unhappy with our response to your complaint following this internal review, you may wish to escalate your complaint to one of the following regulators:
  
  (a) Charity Commission;
  
  (b) For complaints relating to MSF UK’s fundraising activity, the Fundraising Regulator or the Independent Fundraising Standards and Adjudication Panel for Scotland (for concerns relating to fundraising carried out in Scotland).

MSF UK is committed to processing data securely and transparently, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. For more information, please refer to MSF UK’s Data Privacy Statement.