Chipo Chinamora

Senior complaints and patient liaison professional with over 8 years' experience across the NHS, social care and regulated environments. I run investigations end to end pulling records and statements, building clear timelines, speaking to staff and complainants, and writing responses that explain what happened and what will change. I'm comfortable working under scrutiny, including MP and councillor enquiries, and I've improved the standard of investigations through coaching, training and SOP improvements.

Often the go-to person when a case is sensitive, stuck or needs a calm approach.

Patient Services Officer (Complaints Officer, Band 5) at NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (2024-04 – Present)

• Backlog recovery: cleared over 360 aged complaints, reducing the oldest live cases from 12 months to 3 months.
• Manage 25–35 active cases and handle 5–8 MP enquiries per month, keeping case notes accurate and confidential.
• Investigate Stage 1–2 complaints across commissioned services (GP, acute, pharmacy and dental), including conduct concerns, funding disputes, delays and medication/prescription errors.
• Go-to colleague for primary care complaints: support newer colleagues with triage, investigation planning, evidence gathering and drafting where required.
• Lead evidence-based investigations: obtain records/statements, build chronologies, and assess compliance against contracts and NICE/NHS guidance with clinical advisers/commissioners.
• Coordinate local resolution/conciliation meetings and explain rights, process and next steps; produce minutes that reflect concerns and are accepted without dispute.
• Turn themes into improvements by agreeing actions, owners and timescales with providers, supporting learning dissemination and escalating to the Performance Advisory Group when required.

Complaints & Service Quality Manager at DFD Care and Support Services Ltd (2022-12 – 2024-04)

• Managed around 8 complex complaints per week involving service delivery, staff conduct and relationship breakdowns with families and professionals.
• Directly supervised 6 team members, completing regular supervisions and action plans, and supporting performance management and coaching to improve standards.
• Owned complaints end to end, logged, investigated and responded with clear actions, follow-up and record keeping.
• Supported disciplinary and grievance processes with the Registered Manager: investigation packs, investigatory meetings, minute-taking, and outcome/action tracking.
• Escalated safeguarding concerns via internal procedures, including concerns raised by local authorities (as and when they arose), ensuring actions and outcomes were recorded.
• Handled sensitive information daily; recognised DSAR requests when raised and escalated through the organisation's IG/SAR route.
• Acted as a service-user advocate, making sure concerns were taken seriously and outcomes were explained clearly to families and professionals.

Complaints Quality Assessor at Capita Plc (FSCS) (2018-10 – 2022-12)

• Coached up to 20 investigators, supporting reduced rework and more consistent outcomes.
• Quality-checked investigations and outcome letters before sign-off, focusing on evidence quality, clarity of reasoning, consistency and file readiness.
• Worked to a defined QA grading framework and pass mark standard, coaching colleagues to meet that standard consistently.
• Designed and delivered new-starter training on end-to-end complaints handling, quality expectations and common QA failures.
• Delivered refresher training for colleagues with adverse QA grades, including practical rewrites and 1:1 coaching.
• Ran weekly Q&A sessions and delivered sessions on vulnerable customers and reasonable adjustments.
• Updated SOPs and guidance based on QA findings and trend analysis.
• Sat on recruitment interview panels, using SIPP and investment complaint scenarios to test investigation thinking and decision writing.

Senior Complaint Handler at Nationwide Building Society (2017-09 – 2018-08)

• Managed end-to-end complex complaints about investment advice suitability, typically closing around 2 cases per day, and maintaining strong audit trails for potential Ombudsman escalation.
• Reviewed suitability: what the customer was told about fees, risks, restrictions and product features, and whether advice matched risk appetite, capacity for loss and objectives.
• Assessed whether delays or processing errors caused financial disadvantage (missed interest/returns, incorrect rates/fees) and set out fair, proportionate remedies.
• Applied Ombudsman-style comparative analysis to evaluate detriment and fair redress; drafted final responses that were easy to follow and backed by evidence.

Customer Complaints Handler at Santander UK (2016-11 – 2017-09)

• Managed around 30 complaints per week across phone and written channels in a deadline-driven environment.
• Handled a high proportion of resolution calls, de-escalating situations and helping customers understand what happened and why a decision was reached.
• Investigated complaints often involving lending declines, delays and customer communication failures, applying internal standards and fair and consistent decisions.
• Wrote responses that would stand up to review: clear reasoning, evidence referenced, and outcomes explained in plain English.

BA (Hons) in Business Management – University of Derby

A-Levels and GCSEs