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The Lump Sum Grant Independent Complaints Handling Committee (ICHC) was set up in April 2009 according to the recommendation No. 33 of the Review Report on the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System (LSGSS) issued in December 2008. The ICHC handles Lump Sum Grant (LSG)-related complaints that cannot be dealt with satisfactorily by subvented non-governmental organisations (NGOs). It also relays decisions and recommendations to the Social Welfare Department (SWD) for appropriate follow-up action to enhance the LSGSS.

ICHC is comprised of 8 independent individuals. Chairman and Members were all appointed by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region Government. Each term of membership lasts for 2 years. SWD is providing Secretariat support to ICHC.

    Membership list of the Second Term  (Acrobat Document)

	Members of ICHC and I are all independent individuals with great concern on the effective use of government subventions to welfare NGOs and the provision of quality service of NGOs. We would follow up all complaints that cannot be satisfactorily handled by the concerned NGOs in a serious and fair manner, and make suggestion to the NGOs concerned to make improvement for better quality service for the well being of the citizens.
	As for the NGOs, proper handling complaint is a mark of good corporate governance. It is not only the duties of management staff or Head of the NGO but also the governing Board of the NGO which is responsible for the good performance of the organisation. In handling complaints, NGOs should hold patient and helpful attitude in listening to and understanding the complainants, address complaints in a fair and professional manner and communicate the outcomes honestly and expeditiously with the complainants.
	As for the complainants, I trust that they are responsible persons for forwarding their views to ICHC and being frank and not afraid to disclose their personal identity and contact means to the NGOs and ICHC so that their complaints can be handled thoroughly and in a fair manner, with adequate and necessary information. We would ensure the personal data be kept confidential. For effective functioning of the ICHC, all parties' involvement and trust among each others are most essential.

   Mr Herman HUI, BBS, MH, JP
   Chairman, ICHC 

1.	To receive LSG-related complaints against welfare NGOs which cannot be satisfactorily resolved at the NGO level.
2.	To handle LSG-related complaints such as misuse of subventions, NGOs' management decisions that have a direct impact on service performance and non-compliance with service requirements.
3.	To relay the Committee's decisions and recommendations to SWD so that follow-up action may be taken, as appropriate, to enhance the LSGSS.

 ICHC will not normally handle :

1.	Complaints have not been dealt with by the NGO.
2.	Anonymous complaints (except those involved in misuse of subventions, abuse and injuries of service users which need handling by ICHC), but would refer to NGO for attention and/or follow-up.
3.	Complaints about which the aggrieved complainant(s) has/have had actual knowledge for two years or more .
4.	Commencement of court proceedings in relation to the complaint has been made.
5.	Complaints that fall within the ambit of other relevant authorities.
6.	Complaint issues that are governed by other ordinances or statutory requirements.
7.	Complaints which are within the purview of other Government Departments/Bureaux.
8.	Complaints which are related to individual case handling.
9.	Complaints on non-subvented NGOs.
10.	Complaints on self-financing services operated by subvented NGOs.

 

1.	ICHC handles LSG-related complaints against NGOs subvented by SWD which cannot be satisfactorily resolved at the NGO level.
2.	Complaints about the services offered by the above-mentioned NGO should firstly be lodged directly to the Unit Head / Executive Director / Chief Executive Officer / Chairperson of the NGO concerned.
3.	If you are dissatisfied with the NGO's handling of your complaint and decide to lodge a complaint to ICHC, you can write to the Secretariat of ICHC, giving the details, including the name as shown in your document of identity, address, telephone number of the complainant for follow up. ICHC may verify the personal data as provided by you where necessary. Before you provide any personal data to the ICHC, please read the Notice to Data Subjects Before Collection of Personal Data. Notice to Data Subjects Before Collection of Personal Data   (Acrobat Document)
4.	Complaints can be made through the following channels -
	Address  : ICHC Secretariat
	: Social Welfare Department
	: 38/F, 248 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
	Email      : suenq@swd.gov.hk
	Fax         : 2116 0746
5.	For the purpose of fairness, ICHC will not handle anonymous complaints or complaints known to the complainants for two years or over but would refer those complaints to the Unit Head / Executive Director / Chief Executive Officer / Chairperson of the NGOs concerned for attention and/or appropriate follow-up.

1.	All complaints will be treated in the strictest confidence.
2.	Complaints will be examined by ICHC which will refer those not under her jurisdiction to other concerned government departments/bureaux, organisations or other SWD units for follow-up with complainants' consent.
3.	For a complaint which falls within ICHC's jurisdiction but which has not been dealt with by the NGO concerned through that NGO's complaints handling policy and procedures, ICHC will, with complainant's consent, refer the complaint to the relevant NGO for handling and direct reply to the complainant.  If consent is not received, the complaint will not be pursued and will be referred to the relevant NGO for attention and/or follow-up with relevant personal data withheld.
4.	For complaints investigated by ICHC, complainants will receive written confirmation from ICHC of the final result or the reasons of not pursuing the complaints.
5.	ICHC may invite complainant and/or representatives of NGO(s) concerned to attend a Case Meeting to collect more information in person.  The persons attending the Case Meeting must be relevant to the complaints and must be approved by the Case Meeting Panel which is composed of the Chairman/Vice-Chairman with 2 Members of ICHC.  When attending Case Meeting, any mobile devices have to be switched off and no audio/video recording is allowed.
6.	Complainant may make application to ICHC for a review of its decision within 1 month after the date of issue of the written confirmation from ICHC Secretariat on the outcome of the investigation.  The application should set out the grounds and any new evidence which can assist ICHC in considering whether or not to review. The review, if any, will be done by a Review Panel including Chairman/Vice-Chairman and 2 ICHC members who have not previously dealt with the complaint at the Case Meeting Panel. ICHC will normally only pursue cases with new evidence.  After examining any additional evidence  or information collected from any further investigation by the Review Panel, ICHC will issue a written confirmation to inform complainant of the outcome of its review which is to be final.
7.	For complying with the principle of confidentiality, ICHC/Secretariat of ICHC/SWD cannot disclose the information or any information involving the personal data of the complainant with anyone without consent of either parties including the complainant or NGO.

Complaints received by ICHC from June 2009 to February 2012: 

Overall Number of Complaints handled

Month	Complaint Cases Received	Complaint Issues Handled	Referrals to NGO	Complaint Cases Investigated and Reviewed	Complaint Issues Investigated and Reviewed
June/2009	7	10	6	0	0
July	11	16	9	1	1
August	15	27	14	1	4
September	9	15	7	1	1
October	11	40	10	1	1
November	7	10	6	0	0
December	11	24	7	1	8
January/2010	10	26	8	1	2
February	11	19	8	3	34
March	14	14	11	2	10
Sub-total	106	201	86	11	61
April	15	37	9	5	43
May	8	31	8	0	0
June	13	27	9	3	21
July	11	35	10	1	1
August	17	30	15	1	13
September	9	18	8	1	5
October	11	12	8	3	41
November	19	48	15	4	13
December	13	17	10	3	35
January/2011	17	24	13	4	25
February	10	22	5	3	8
March	10	47	36	2	2
Sub-total	153	348	146	30	207
April	5	15	5	4	46
May	6	13	6	4	13
June	13	27	9	3	11
July	5	7	3	3	8
August	15	61	26	1	3
September	16	30	15	1	2
October	19	62	18	6	16
November	6	17	6	1	1
December	18	43	14	1	1
January/2012	16	33	12	2	4
February/2012	11	24	6	2	8
Sub-total	130	332	120	28	113
Total	389	881	352	69	381

 Breakdown of Outcomes of Direct Investigations by ICHC 

Classification	No. of Complaint Issues
	Misuse of SWD subventions	Non-compliance with service requirement	NGO's decisions that have direct impact on service performance	Total
Substantiated	7	50	1	58
Partially substantiated	4	51	3	58
Unsubstantiated	13	123	9	145
Withdrawn/ Discontinued	0	6	1	7
Not pursuable	0	94	0	94
Under investigation	3	16	0	19
Total	27	340	14	381

Case 1  An anonymous complaint, referred to ICHC by ICAC in July 2009, was about a subvented NGO which was suspected to have used subventions for paying salaries of staff of its self-financing service unit.  Surprise accounting inspection was conducted to the NGO by Secretariat of the ICHC and the Finance Branch of SWD to check accounting books and records concerning Personal Emoluments (PE) payments.  Findings revealed that the self-financing service unit had its management board, accounting system, books and records separated from the subvented NGO.  The PE of staff of the self-financing service unit was paid by the NGO through auto-pay and reimbursed within the same month of pay day by the self-financing service unit.  Relevant accounting records showed that the amounts transacted between the self-financing service unit and the NGO were matched. The complaint was endorsed by ICHC as unsubstantiated as no evidence could be found to support that the NGO had used subventions on its self-financing service.

Learning Point All NGOs should have proper books of account and other accounting records for all transactions, separately identified into Funding and Service Agreement (FSA) activities and non-FSA activities in accordance with paragraph 3.3 of LSG Manual (Edition 2).  NGOs have to re-examine its current practice in accounting records if they also operate self-financing units.

Case 2 A family member of a service user wrote to complain against the service provision of a residential unit of a subvented NGO on:  (i)    using inconsistent reasons to discharge the service user from the service;  (ii)    telling the hospital staff repeatedly about discharging the service user  without           the knowledge of the family members;  (iii)   not issuing a notice on termination of service to the service user one month prior          to its termination of service as stipulated in its policy document on Service          Quality Standard (SQS);  (iv)   not providing adequate care to the service user;  (v)    defaming the service user for having aggressive behaviour and harassment to staff; and  (vi)   not referring the service user for appropriate service after termination of service. After examining the information, records and documents collected through different channels including NGO, complainant, on-site assessment, Licensing Office of Residential Care Homes for the Elderly and medical social workers etc, it was concluded that the complaint issues (i), (ii) (iii) and (vi) at Paragraph 1 were substantiated with reasons as follows:  (i)   The records on discharge meeting minutes and the written notice on discharge issued         to the family members showed that the service unit had used inconsistent reasons        to discharge the service user;  (ii)   Hospital record showed that service unit staff had informed the hospital staff of the         discharge of the service user prior to any discussion with the family members;  (iii)  The service unit had not issued a notice on termination of service to the service user         and  family members in accordance with the time frame as stipulated in its SQS 10         policy document on Entry and Exit of Service; and  (iv)  The service unit had not followed its SQS 10 policy document to assist in making         referral for the service user upon the latter's discharge from service. On the other hand, the complaint issues (iv) and (v) at Paragraph 1 were considered as unsubstantiated with reasons as follows:  (i)  The service unit had formulated Individual Care Plans by different professionals half       yearly, discussed and informed the family members about the service user's problem and        strategies on management at different meetings and brought the service user to attend       various medical follow-ups regularly.  Besides, the staff provision of the NGO also met       the licensing requirement of SWD.  The service unit had provided basic care to       the service user.  (ii) Different kinds of records indicated the aggressive behaviour of the service user and       his harassment to staff. The Secretariat of ICHC had informed the NGO of investigation result with improvement measures recommended for the NGO's follow-up.

Learning Point  (i)   NGOs should ensure staff to adhere to their policy documents on Entry and Exit of           Service to make referral or arrange placement for service users involuntarily discharged            from their service and provide consistent information to service users and family         members through close supervision and training so as to reduce the worry of the families         and safeguard the welfare of the service users.  (ii)  Instead of different Individual Care Plans conducted by different professionals, NGO         should formulate a consolidated Individual Care Plan to work out strategy in handling         service users' needs and problem(s) through multi-disciplinary approach.  (iii)  While understanding and recognising the difficulties of staff in handling the         emotion/aggression of service users, ICHC considered that NGOs should provide         appropriate training to enrich staff's knowledge and skills in handling unexpected         circumstances and violence so as to ensure safety of and prevent injury to staff and         other service users.

Case 3 A parent of a service user lodged an anonymous complaint against a subvented NGO on:  (i)   using subvented space to operate a self-financing unit without approval of Social Welfare         Department (SWD).  As a result, less space in the subvented unit is left for the activity         for service users; and  (ii)  using government resources to finance this self-financing unit. Secretariat of ICHC to the self-financing unit conducted On-site assessment to the service unit and examined its accounting books and financial records. Findings revealed that the self-financing unit:  (i)   had sought approval-in-principle from SWD for setting up the self-financing unit in the         subvented unit;  (ii)  occupied a small portion of the subvented space which was the office for staff before         merging of the general offices with another subvented unit.  Therefore, it did not affect         the service area of the subvented unit;  (iii)  had an independent set of staff, service equipments and financial record. The financial         record showed that the self-financing unit bears the PE of the staff and pays other         related expenses arising from using the subvented space such as water and electricity         fees, rates, charges on using the hall facility and charges on meal provision to this         subvented NGO though the payment for the charge of the hall is relatively low; and  (iv)  had not informed SWD the actual date of operation and actual size used; and had not         deducted the portion of the self-financing unit when applied for reimbursement of rates         from SWD for the subvented unit. The complaint was endorsed by ICHC as unsubstantiated as NGO had sought SWD's approval-in-principle for setting up the self-financing unit in the subvented service unit's vacant office and there was no evidence to show that the NGO had used the subventions on its self-financing service.  Yet the NGO is required -  (i)   to report to SWD the actual date of operation of the self-financing unit so that the        amount of rates since its operation will be deducted from the NGO's subventions; and  (ii)  to revise the rental charge for the hall and obtain the approval from SWD.

Learning Point  (i)  LSG covers Rent and Rates which are to be paid on actual basis as stated in the LSG        Manual.  When using the subvented space for operating self-financing unit, NGOs are        advised to inform SWD of the actual date of operation of their self-financing unit even        after the approval-in-principle and exclude the area for the self- financing unit when        reimbursing the portion of Rent and Rates subventions on subvented area and  (ii) NGOs should charge reasonable rate when using subvented space for the activities for        the self-financing unit and obtain the approval from SWD.

Case 4 This anonymous complaint was about the social workers of a hostel of a subvented NGO failing to follow the Service Quality Standard (SQS) procedures to report a suspected assault incident of a male resident who was alleged to have indecently assaulted a female resident. ICHC Secretariat collected and examined relevant documents and information through a surprised on-site assessment to the hostel and subsequent contacts with the hostel staff.  The complaint was endorsed by ICHC as partially substantiated in view of the following:  (i)   the social worker of the male resident concerned had conducted assessment on the         resident's problem after the incident and the remedial plan as advised by the social         work supervisor was implemented; but he had not conducted investigation and reported         the suspected indecent assault incident in details according to the procedures as laid         down in the hostel's SQS 16 documents;  (ii)   the social worker of the female resident concerned had not conducted investigation,         rendered appropriate follow-up and reported the suspected indecent assault incident in         details according to the procedures as laid down in the hostel's SQS 16 documents;    (iii)  the supervisor of the hostel did not read the Members' Diary regularly while staff did not         report to their supervisors any special incidents recorded in the Members' Diary.  This         led to the hostel staff did not follow the procedures of SQS 16 in handling another three         suspected indecent assault incidents by the same male resident in the hostel; and  (iv)  the back door of the female dormitory of the hostel was just a wooden gate of about 5         feet that outsiders and female residents could easily loosen the manual lock and get in         and out. The ICHC Secretariat had informed the NGO of the investigation result with improvement measures recommended for the follow-up of the NGO.

Learning Point   (i)   NGOs should provide training and supervision to all staff so that they can be          familiarized with: SQSs policy and procedures including SQS16 on protection of service users from abuse and circulate these documents to all staff to ensure their full understanding and adherence of the procedures stipulated in the SQS documents. handling and assessment of at-risk or special incidents including formulation of appropriate treatment plans for residents with emotional and behavioural problems to facilitate staff's handling of such incidents.  (ii)  NGOs should review and strengthen its staff supervision to ensure all ranks of staff to         report timely to their senior staff on significant incidents occurred in the service units         and conduct appropriate assessment, review and follow-up of service needs of the         service users in accordance with the requirements stipulated in SQS 11.  (iii)  The hostel / NGO should review its physical environment for the safety of the service         users and review the SQS 9 on safe environment to provide safe environment for staff         and service users of the hostel.

Case 5 A complaint about the service provision and management of a subvented NGO was received in respect of the following issues:  (i)    failing to provide relevant service sessions for service users;  (ii)   violating the principle of confidentiality in complaint handling; and  (iii)   failing to follow the staff posting policy in transferring a staff to another post. After examining the information, records and documents collected through different channels including the NGO, the complainant and on-site assessment, as well as liaison with the Rehabilitation and Medical Social Service Branch of the Social Welfare Department, it is concluded that:  (i)    Complaint Item (i) is partially substantiated.  The NGO has made efforts to meet the          service needs through conducting open recruitment for filling the vacancy, arranging          hire of service and internal deployment.  The complaint on this part is considered          unsubstantiated.  However, the NGO has failed to implement its action plan as          proposed for rectifying the underachieved output standard, and the prolonged absence          of a post in one of its subvented service units has violated the essential service          requirements stipulated in the respective Funding and Service Agreement.  The          complaint on this part is considered substantiated.  (ii)   The complainant's consent to referring the complaint to the NGO for direct reply to the         complainant was obtained and recorded in the referral.  The NGO, without notifying the         complainant or seeking the complainant's consent, disclosed and openly discussed the         contents of the complaint letter at a meeting, thereby violating its policy and           procedures for handling complaints.  Complaint item (ii) is substantiated.  (iii)  Complaint item (iii) is unsubstantiated because the NGO has followed its human         resources management policy as recorded in a recent staff transfer exercise whereby         the staff member was given a reshuffle of duties but not a post transfer. The ICHC considered the complaint as partially substantiated and improvement measures were recommended to the NGO.

Learning Points  (i)    The NGO should strictly follow up the action plans as proposed and make every effort          to meet the essential service requirements of the Funding and Service Agreement          concerned.  (ii)   The NGO should remind all staff to strictly follow the principle of confidentiality as          stipulated in SQS15 in response to any complaints raised and to handle complaints          with great care in accordance with its policy and procedures.

Case 6 A complaint against a service unit of a subvented NGO was received in respect of the following issues:  (i)    The unit-in-charge was often late for work or absent from duty since his/her posting to          the unit.  (ii)   Since mid 2009, another staff member of the unit had frequent records of lateness or          absence from duty.  (iii)   Due to the frequent absence of both the unit-in-charge and the staff member from duty           together, the provision of relevant service was affected.  (iv)   As one female toilet cubicle was locked up all the time leaving only two female toilet          cubicles for use by female service users, some female service users had to use the          male toilet, leading to conflicts and incontinence of some service users. After examining the information, records and documents collected through a surprise on-site assessment at the service unit, contacts with the NGO and unit staff, interviews with service users of the unit and seeking advice from the Elderly Branch of the Social Welfare Department etc, it was concluded that all the above complaint issues were substantiated with reasons as follows:  (i)    The complaint issue (i) is considered substantiated as the unit-in-charge had          records of unauthorized leave, frequent lateness and failure to clock in properly during          the past two years but NGO management had not followed the guidelines on SQS 5 to          discipline the staff.  (ii)   The complaint issue (ii) is considered substantiated as the staff member concerned          had records of frequent lateness during the specified period but NGO management had          not followed the guidelines on SQS 5 to discipline the staff.  (iii)  The complaint issue (iii) is considered substantiated as the NGO had failed to         comply with the relevant Essential Service Requirement (ESR) stated in the Funding         and Service Agreement (FSA) to ensure that there are relevant staff stationed in the unit         all the time, but instead it had arranged for other staff to carry out the relevant duties in         the absence of both staff.  (iv)  The complaint issue (iv) is considered substantiated as the unit's arrangement of         reserving one toilet cubicle for staff use and leaving only two cubicles (including the one         for disabled users) in the female toilet for use by female service users is inappropriate          for the purpose of meeting service users' needs. The ICHC Secretariat has informed the NGO of the investigation results with improvement measures recommended for follow-up by the NGO.

Learning Points  (i)   For staff's persistent misconduct, NGO management should act strictly in accordance         with the procedures under SQS 5 to enforce appropriate disciplinary actions to rectify         the staff's problems in an effective manner.  (ii)  The NGO should act strictly in accordance with the relevant ESR of FSA to ensure that         there are relevant staff stationed in the unit all the time during the service hours and that         the provision of relevant service is not affected.  (iii)  The NGO should consider the views of service users from time to time when         implementing any arrangement that may affect the general welfare of service users.  (iv)  The NGO should take appropriate improvement measures to ensure that adequate and         hygienic toilet facilities be available to all service users.

 

Case 7 This anonymous complaint was about the suspected misuse of subventions by a subvented NGO:  (i)    Some staff members of a subvented service unit of the NGO were arranged to work at          a non-subvented service unit of the NGO;  (ii)   Some staff members who should work in subvented service units of the NGO were          arranged to take up non-subvented service in the NGO's Head Office;  (iii)   A staff member who should work in a subvented service unit of the NGO was arranged          to take up non-subvented work outside Hong Kong;  (iv)   A staff member with salaries charged to subventons took up paid outside work which          was not a subvented service;  (v)   The delivery of a subvented service of the NGO was adversely affected by the NGO's         management decisions leading to (a) a number of violence or suicidal incidents in         some subvented service units of the NGO; and (b) the subvented service in question         could not meet the FSA requirements concerned. The ICHC Secretariat examined all relevant documents and information collected from surprise on-site assessments at the Head Office and the relevant service units of the NGO, interviews with the NGO staff concerned, liaison with the Rehabilitation and Medical Social Services Branch (RMB) and Finance Branch (FB) of the Social Welfare Department.  The ICHC endorsed that the complaint issues (i) and (iv) be considered as substantiated and complaint issues (ii), (iii) and (v) as partially-substantiated with reasons as follows:  (i)   The complaint issue (i) is considered substantiated as some staff of the subvented         service unit were arranged to work and be stationed at the non-subvented unit of the         NGO.  (ii)  The complaint issue (ii) is considered partially-substantiated as the NGO assigned         some of its full-time subvented staff at the NGO's Head Office to take up some non-        subvented work outside Hong Kong during part of their service hours.  (iii)  The complaint issue (iii) is considered partially-substantiated as the NGO         assigned a staff member of the subvented service unit to take up some non-subvented         work outside Hong Kong during part of his/her service hours.  (iv)  The complaint issue (iv) is considered substantiated as the subvented staff         concerned had taken up paid outside work within his/her service hours and such work         was considered as non-subvented work.  (v)   The complaint issue (v) is considered partially-substantiated as:        (a)   while the NGO took relevant follow-up actions and prepared the incident reports in                accordance with the relevant procedures as stipulated in the SQS 9 document,                the NGO did not follow the relevant SQS 9 procedures in submitting the report of a                violent incident in a subvented service unit within the time-frame or keeping proper                records on the reasons for not reporting the incident to the police.  The complaint                issue (v)(a) is therefore considered partially-substantiated; and        (b)   the information and records collected from the NGO indicated that the delivery of                the service concerned met the requirements as stipulated in the relevant FSA.                 This complaint issue (v)(b) is therefore considered unsubstantiated. The ICHC Secretariat has informed the NGO of the investigation result with improvement measures recommended for follow-up by the NGO.

Learning Points  (i)   The NGO should follow strictly the requirements as laid down in the relevant FSAs in         delivering subvented services.  (ii)  The NGO should observe the subventions rules and regulations by using the         subventions solely for subvented services and rectify any inappropriate arrangement.  (iii)  The NGO should apportion the personal emolument of the staff concerned between         subvented and non-subvented services.  For the complaint issues (i)-(iv), the NGO         should calculate the amount of subventions used for non-subvented service and inform         SWD accordingly.  (iv)  The NGO should render close supervision to ensure staff's compliance with the relevant         SQS 9 procedures in reporting and conducting necessary follow-up actions for proper         handling of serious incidents, including violent incidents that may happen in service         units.

Case 8 This complaint was about the service assessment and arrangement of the internal case transfer within two service units of a subvented NGO in respect of the following issues: (i)   unit A failed to follow its policy and procedures in assessing the needs of        the service user; and (ii)  unit B failed to follow its service entry policy and procedures to handle the       application for service in respect of the service user. The Secretariat for ICHC examined the information, records and documents provided by the NGO and the complainant, as collected from file records and staff interviews during on-site assessments, and through liaison with the Family and Child Welfare Branch of the Social Welfare Department.  The ICHC endorsed that the complaint issue (i) be concluded as partially substantiated and complaint issue (ii) unsubstantiated with reasons as follows: (i)  The records indicated that three problems of the service user were mentioned by      the service user's family member during the intake with unit A.  However, there      was not any assessment or proposed follow-up action on one of the problems      mentioned in the intake report.  On this part, the complaint is considered      substantiated.  On the other hand, the case social worker had conducted      needs assessment for the service user twice in less than three months upon      receipt of the case.  He did follow the organisation's policy and procedures in      conducting the needs assessment.  The complaint on this part is      considered unsubstantiated. (ii)  The complainant revealed that senior management of the NGO had agreed       and committed to an internal transfer of his case from unit A to unit B for       follow-up.  However, the complainant was dissatisfied that unit B, after an      intake interview with one of the service user's family members, finally did not      open a case for follow-up.  Relevant policy of unit B laid down that the intake      worker should arrange an interview with the service user as soon as possible      for assessment.  For this case, a family member, who was living apart from the      service user, was seen during the intake interview.  The intake worker had duly      informed the family member that her request for a particular service could not      be considered at the intake stage if the social worker did not meet the service      user in person.  Several alternatives to handling the case were discussed with the      family member but the latter was unable to make up her mind and she would      need to discuss with the complainant the alternatives as proposed.  Besides,      she did not want another family member, who was living with the service user,      to be alerted to the social worker's intervention.  As a result, it was concluded      that no case would be opened at that time point.  The intake worker      subsequently followed the unit's policy and time frame in completing and      submitting the intake enquiry form to his supervisor shortly after the intake       interview, and the supervisor had also read and signed the enquiry form on      the day after.  Based on the finding that the intake worker had followed the       unit's policy on service entry on case handling, the complaint item (ii)       is unsubstantiated. The ICHC considered the complaint as partially substantiated and improvement measures were recommended to the NGO.

Learning Points (i)   The policy documents of SQS 10 and 11 of unit A should be reviewed and revised       to clearly spell out the parties to be involved, methods of assessment, planning       and review of case handling, documentation and maintenance of records, notification       of assessment outcomes, and time frames for implementing and reviewing        action plans, etc; (ii)   flexibility should be exercised in dealing with the procedures for case assessment        and recommendation for follow-up services if welfare needs of the service users        had  already been identified.  Other alternatives, such as outreaching service, should       be adopted for vulnerable service users who may not be able to attend office       interviews  for case assessment; and (iii)  the NGO should explain to service users clearly and consistently about the operation       of different service units including internal referral mechanism to facilitate service        users' understanding.