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We regularly review the way we provide services that are offered to our patients. To do this effectively, we need to know your views about the Practice. We want to know what you think we do well, where we have not met your needs, and encourage you to put forward any ideas and suggestions you may have to improve the service.
Complaints Procedure
If you have a complaint about any aspect of the Practice, please let us know as soon as possible. If you make a complaint, it will not have an adverse effect on your registration, care, treatment or support.
How to Complain
In the first instance, please discuss your complaint with a member of staff. Where the issue cannot be resolved immediately, please contact the Practice Manager who will try to resolve the issue and offer you further advice on our complaint procedure. If your problem cannot be resolved and you wish to make a formal complaint please let us know as soon as possible, ideally within a matter of days by making contact with the complaints manager. It is ideal to have the information in writing so please contact us by email or post if this is possible. This will enable us to get a clear picture of the circumstances of the complaint.
If you are making a complaint on behalf of someone else, we need to know that you have their permission to do so in order to ensure we maintain patient confidentiality. A note signed by the person concerned will be required, unless they are incapable of providing this due to illness or disability.
When to Complain
If you are unable to raise your complaint immediately, please give the details of your complaint to us within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem, or within 12 months from when the complaint comes to your notice. We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days.
Next Steps
We will offer to meet with you to discuss your complaint, agree with you how your complaint will be fully investigated and let you know when this will be completed. When we investigate your complaint we aim to:
- Establish the full circumstances of your complaint
- Make arrangements for you to discuss the problem with whoever is concerned, if possible
- Offer an apology, where this is appropriate
- Identify what we could do to prevent the problem occurring again
Other Ways to Complain
If you are unable to raise your complaint with us, or would like external advice about raising a concern or making a complaint, you can contact any of the following organisations:
PATIENT ADVISORY LIAISON SERVICE (PALS)
PALS provide a confidential service designed to help patients get the most from the NHS. PALS can tell you more about the NHS complaints procedure and may be able to help you resolve your complaint informally. To find your local PALS office please use this web address:
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/what-is-pals-patient-advice-and-liaison-service/
NHS Complaints Advocacy Service (POhWER)
POhWER is a national service that supports people who want to make a complaint about their NHS Care or treatment. Your local POhWER service can be found via this web address:
www.pohwer.net
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0300 456 2370
Local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)
https://www.england.nhs.uk/ccg-details/
NHS England
NHS England welcomes concerns, compliments and complaints as valuable feedback that will help them learn from your experiences and make improvements to services they commission:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/complaint/complaining-to-nhse/
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)
The PHSO investigates complaints about the NHS in England and how they have been handled. If you are not content with our reply to your complaint, you may ask the PHSO to review your complaint:
Tel: 0345 015 4033
Care Quality Commission (CQC)
You can also inform the CQC if you wish to raise concerns about care you have seen or experienced in health and social care services.
https://www.cqc.org.uk/contact-us/how-complain/complain-about-service-or-provider
