Sign inOur aim is to provide the highest level of care for all our patients. We will always be willing to hear if there are ways we can improve.
Making a complaint
If you have cause to complaint or have concerns about the service that you have received from the doctors or staff working for this practice, please let us know.
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 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 that it is within 12 months of the incident.
The Practice Manager will deal with your complaint. She will explain the procedure to you and make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly.
You can make your complaint in person or in writing. Please give as much information as you can, then send your complaint to the practice for the attention of Christina Rayner, as soon as possible.
What we shall do
Our complaints procedure is designed to make sure that we settle any complaints as quickly as possible.
We shall acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 28 working days of the date when you raised it with us, where possible. We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation and/ or a meeting with the people involved.
- When we look into your complaint, we shall aim to:
- find out what happened and what went wrong;
- make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you wish;
- make sure you receive an apology, where appropriate;
- identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again.
At the end of the investigation your complaint will be discussed with you in detail, either in person or in writing.
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 his or her permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.
What you can do next
We hope that if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe that this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and the opportunity to improve our practice.
However this does not affect your right to approach NHS England if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us.
Contact details are:
NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 2233
(calls are charged at local rate)
Hours: 9am – 5pm Mon-Fri
Email: england.contactus@nhs.net
In addition, the NHS Complaints Advocacy Service can offer you help and support in submitting a complaint.
Contact details are:
North East NHS ICA
Room 312, DBH Gateshead
Aidan House
Sunderland Road
Gateshead
NE8 3HU
Freephone: 0808 802 3000
Email: ica@carersfederation.co.uk
If you remain dissatisfied with the responses to your complaint, you have the right to ask the Health Service Ombudsman to review your case. The Ombudsman is an independent body established to promote improvements in healthcare through the assessment of the performance of those who provide service.
Contact details are:
Health Service Ombudsman Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Tel: 0345 015 4033
Email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk
