COMPLAINING OUR WAY TO QUALITY - COMPLAINTS, CONTRACTS AND THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR

The research on which this paper is based is part of a wider study of quality assurance and the voluntary sector. The focus of this paper is on complaints procedures, as part of quality assurance mechanisms, wh ere voluntary agencies are the contracted service providers. The autho rs argue that, with the introduction of contracting and particularly w ith its further development, the way in which complaints mechanisms cu rrently operate will need to be revised if they are to be an effective part of the quality assurance process.