The doctors and staff at our practice are committed to providing high quality healthcare and services to patients.
If you have a suggestion, comment, complaint or concern about the service you have received from doctors, or any of the staff working at our practice, please let us know by filling out our feedback form.
We are always interested to hear your feedback, and we recognise that this will not always be positive. We will respond to your feedback if you decide to leave your contact details, and we will also use your feedback to improve.
We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our practice complaints procedure meets national criteria.
How to complain
We aim to resolve any complaints and concerns easily and quickly, and if possible at the time they arise with the person concerned.
If your complaint or concern cannot be resolved immediately and if you wish to make a complaint, please provide us with details of your complaint as soon as possible, so we can establish the issues in a timely manner. If it is not possible to do so, please provide us with details of your complaint:
- Within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem
- Within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem
Complaints should be addressed to the complaints manager. Alternatively you may ask for an appointment with the complaints manager in order to have your concerns dealt with promptly.
We believe that any complaint you have about the practice can be dealt with by those responsible for ensuring patient care and delivery of service within the practice, but we recognise that you may feel uncomfortable with doing so, or that you may be unhappy with the result of our complaints procedure.
You have the right, therefore, to alternatively complain to NHS England on 0300 311 22 33.
What we will do
We will contact you about your complaint within three working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 10 working days of the date when you raised it with us. We will then be in a position to offer you an explanation or a meeting with the person or people involved. When we investigate your complaint, we will aim to:
- Find out what happened and what went wrong.
- Invite you to discuss the problem with those involved, if you have requested this.
- Make sure you receive an apology where appropriate.
- Identify what we can do to make sure that the problem does not happen again.
Complaining on behalf of someone else
Medical records are protected by the Data Protection Act 1998. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we need to know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (i.e. due to illness) of providing this.
Getting help
If you require independent support with your complaint, you can contact the independent complaints advocacy service (voiceability) on nhscomplaints@voiceability.org
If you prefer, you can phone or write to the complaints department at NHS England. Their staff will aim try to sort out complaints and can make enquiries on your behalf.
The contact details are:
Phone
0300 311 22 33
Email
england.contactus@nhs.net
If you are not satisfied
If you are not satisfied with the way we have dealt with your complaint, you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to review your case on www.ombudsman.org.uk. The Ombudsman is an independent body established to promote improvements in healthcare through the assessment of the performance of those who provide service.
Remember:
- We want you to let us know if you are unhappy or have a suggestion about how we can do things better.
- All complaints are treated in the strictest confidence.
- Making a complaint will not affect your treatment or care.
