Practice Complaints Procedure
If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from any of the clinical or non- clinical staff working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a Practice Complaints Procedure as part of an NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.
HOW TO COMPLAIN:
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally, within a matter a days of at most a few weeks- because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. In any event, this should be within 12 months of the incident.
Complaints should be addressed to the Practice Manager. Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with the Practice Manager or Operations Manager in order to discuss your concerns. She will explain the complaints procedure to you and will make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible about your complaint.
WHAT WE WILL DO:
We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days and will investigate your complaint fully. You will then be advised of the results of our investigations in line with our complaints policy.
COMPLAINING ON BEHALF OF SOMEONE ELSE:
Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed. Where the patient is incapable of providing consent due to illness or accident it may still be possible to deal with the complaint. Please provide precise details of the circumstances in this case.
COMPLAINING TO THE HEALTH AUTHORITY:
We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our Practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our Practice. However, this does not affect your right to approach the local health authority, if you feel you cannot raise your complaints with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation, you can contact any of the following bodies
NHS England
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0300 311 22 33 or write to : NHS England, PO Box 16728, Redditch, B97 9PT
PALS, ICAS & OMBUDSMAN
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.
NHS COMPLAINTS ADVOCACY SERVICE
This is a national free and independent service that supports people who want to make a complaint about their NHS Care or treatment. HELPLINE: 0203 553 5960
Text: Send the word ‘pohwer’ and then your name and number to 81025.
Email: [email protected]
OMBUDSMAN
If you are not happy with the response from this practice, you can refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman who investigates complaints about the NHS in England.
You can call the Ombudsman’s Complaints Helpline on 0345 015 4033 or
http://www.ombudsman.org.uk or Textphone (Minicom): 0300 061 4298