If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the 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. We are required to ask you for your ethnic category to comply with Department of Health regulations.
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 of days or at most a few weeks, because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have the details of your complaint:
- within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem; or
- within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident.
Complaints should be addressed in writing to The Complaints Officer. 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 shall do
We shall acknowledge your complaint within three working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within ten working days of the date when you raised it with us. We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation. When we look into your complaint, we shall aim to:
- Find out what happened and what went wrong;
- Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate;
- Identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again.
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, unless they are incapable (e.g. because of illness) of providing this.
Complaining to NHS England
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. This does not affect your right to approach the local health authority, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation. You should contact:
NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch B97 9PT.
Telephone: 0300 311 22 33
Email: england.contactus@nhs.net
Website: www.england.nhs.uk/complaining-to-nhse
For further advice or the Health Service Ombudsman:
Complaints Helpline Tel: 0345 015 4033
The Helpline is open 8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday
Textphone (Minicom): 0300 061 4298
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
Any Problems?
We aim to provide the best possible service to our patients. If you have any suggestions for improvements or have experienced any problems, please tell the doctors, the Practice Manager or contribute to the suggestion box in reception. You may also contact the Patient Participation Group by emailing: healthylivingchampion@outlook.com