Our Vision: Making West Norfolk an active, healthy and happy place.
We are dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of all users and the local community whilst providing the best customer journey and experience possible.
What You Can Expect From Us
General
- We’ll provide accurate and clear information in response to your enquiries
- We’ll be polite, friendly and helpful at all times
- We’ll treat everyone fairly and respectfully, with equality and diversity at the heart of everything we do
- We always encourage you to comment on our services through any method (i.e. phone / email / online)
- We’ll always listen to you and do our best to understand your needs
- If we can’t help, we’ll provide the relevant information or put you in contact with someone that can
- We’ll clearly explain outcomes and decisions
- We’ll respect your rights in relation to privacy and confidentiality
- We’ll always try to get it right first time, but where this isn’t possible, we’ll keep you updated as we look into your enquiry
- We’ll use plain English and if needed, we can arrange a face-to-face or telephone interpreter to help you understand and access the services on offer
- We’ll always be open and honest on what we can or can’t deliver
- If you need additional help, we’ll try and make arrangements that meet your needs
- We’ll always aim to only take your information once
- We’ll aim to find a satisfactory solution and have a ‘can-do’ attitude within our available resources
- We’ll respond to your queries within our published timescales
- We’ll handle any comments & complaints with professionalism and take necessary actions on the rare occasion we fall short of our standards
- Where possible we’ll invest in our facilities to continually improve our services to better meet the needs of our customers
- We’ll respond to simple enquiries within 2 working days, more complex enquiries within 5 working days and complaints within 10 working days unless we have indicated otherwise to you
- If we can’t answer fully within these timescales, we’ll explain why and let you know when you can expect a response
- We’ll respond to Freedom of Information requests within 20 working days
- Where relevant, we’ll provide clear details of any outcomes and how we’ll take them forwards
- Our email boxes will provide automatic responses letting you know when it is monitored
- If a staff member you email is on leave, we’ll always aim for you to receive an automatic response giving you their return date and the name and number for an alternative contact
- As best practice, we will endeavour to ensure our staff have email signatures
In Person
- Our facilities will be clean, safe, accessible welcoming and inviting to all customers
- Help will be available if you need advice on getting to the right place
- Our centres will be clearly signposted to help you get where you need to go
- We’ll always try and see you as quickly as possible, but if there is a delay we’ll keep you updated and provide an explanation
- We regularly review the information provided throughout our facilities to ensure it is relevant, accurate and up to date
- Pre-booked appointments will be met within 5 minutes of arrival but if there is a delay we’ll keep you updated and provide an explanation
- Private space will be available to discuss confidential issues safely
- We will always do our best to cater for anyone with additional needs, please let us know what assistance might be needed when you book so we can help make sure the right facilities are in place for your visit
- Our staff will always be approachable, friendly, helpful and presentable
- We’ll clearly display our opening times, and information on activities and events
- We’ll maintain the temperature of activity areas suitable for sessions
Phone
- We’ll always answer the phone as quickly as possible and aim to answer within 30 seconds
- We’ll introduce ourselves on the call in a professional and courteous manner
- We’ll aim to resolve your query whilst you’re on the phone, but if we can’t, we’ll provide you with a timescale for coming back to you with an answer
- We’ll always let you know who’s dealing with your enquiry
- The staff member answering your call will take ownership of it so you always have a point of contact
- If we need to transfer your call, with your permission we’ll pass on your details so you don’t have to repeat yourself
- If you have a hearing impairment, we can offer access to an alternative system
- We try to limit the occasions you need to leave voicemail to exceptional circumstances only
- We’ll keep our voicemail messages informative and up to date and where possible we’ll offer an alternative number if your call is urgent
- If a staff member is on leave, and a personal voicemail is available, the message will let you know when they’re due to return and provide an alternative number for you to contact. Phone messages will be responded to within 2 days of the staff member returning to work.
- When we return your calls, we’ll always show the centre’s main telephone number. If you’re unavailable, where possible we’ll leave a message
- At Alive Lynnsport, there is an automated phone system in place to assist customers in accessing our services / information
Online
- We aim for our online services to be accessible 24/7
- We’ll make sure that all information is up to date and easy to locate and navigate
- We’ll aim to have useful, relevant information available to help answer your queries
- You can register for a customer account which will offer you a personalised and interactive service
- You’ll be able to book, pay, settle outstanding arrears and apply for most of our services online
- You’ll be able to report any issues you have with the online services
- We’ll be on hand to help and support you access our online services
- Our website aims to provide all the information you need and you can use our search tool to find what you’re looking for
- If you submit any enquiries, we’ll respond to these within our published timescales
Social Media
- We’ll make sure that all information is relevant, accurate and up to date
- We monitor social media throughout the working day and aim to respond to simple enquiries within four working hours (between 9.30am-4pm)
- If we need longer to investigate a query, we’ll explain why and let you know when to expect a response
Other
- We’ll respond to letter enquiries within 10 working days, in most cases this will be a full response but if we need longer to investigate a query, we’ll explain why and let you know when to expect a response. Letter responses will always include the name, job title, department, telephone number and email address of the staff member dealing with your query
- If you’d like to meet with a specific member of staff, please let us know or contact them to make an appointment prior to visiting as they may not be available when you come in
- We’ll always aim to arrive promptly to any arranged meeting and show you our ID badges to confirm who we are
- Any virtual meetings we hold (i.e. Team / Zoom) will be held in a professional manner and our cameras will always be on (unless there are issues). We will always have a background on during meetings
Complaints
Anyone has the right to, and can feel safe passing on their feedback – please be assured that we will treat all complaints in the strictest of confidence.
When dealing with complaints we aim to:
- Deal with complaints fairly, efficiently and effectively
- Ensure all complaints are treated with respect and in confidence
- Acknowledge receipt of the complaint within two working days and provide a reference number
- Ensure that all complaints are handled in a consistent manner
- Respond to any complaint within 10 working days (this may be extended if further investigation is required, but we’ll always let you know if the response time has been extended, along with a response date).
- Where relevant, we will use learning to improve overall customer satisfaction and service delivery
When you make a complaint:
- We will always do our best to ensure we have understood the complaint correctly – we may make contact with you to ensure this is the cash
- You may be interviewed by the person investigating the complaint (you can have someone with you during any discussions)
- If a criminal offence is alleged, the relevant authorities will be informed (i.e. the Police)
- If, as a result of a complaint, disciplinary proceedings are taken against a member of staff, our internal procedures will apply. You will be notified that disciplinary proceedings have taken place, but as these proceedings are confidential, no details will be disclosed
- Where relevant, acknowledge, accept and apologise for fault and offer a reasonable solution
- If a complaint is not upheld, you will receive communication with an explanation setting out the reasons why
If you haven’t received a response within 10 working days, please email us or call us on 01553 818007.
We’ll always do our best to resolve complaints, but occasionally this isn’t possible. If you consider your complaint has not been fully considered and / or addressed, you can appeal against the decision to the Assistant Director of Leisure & Culture for Alive at the below address, who will then undertake a review of the investigation of your complaint:
Assistant Director of Leisure & Culture
Lynnsport
Greenpark Avenue
King’s Lynn
Norfolk
PE30 2NB
01553 818007
enquiries@alivewestnorfolk.co.uk
