Complaints

Practice Complaints Procedure

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 a 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 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 this is within 12 months of the incident

Complaints should be addressed to Helen Knight, Practice Manager.  Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with the Practice Manager in order to discuss your concerns.  The complaints procedure will be explained to you and will ensure 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

On receipt of the complaint, an acknowledgement will be sent out, and a complaint action sheet will be implemented.  All letters are sent by recorded delivery. 

If the complaint is of an administrative nature, it will be dealt with by the Practice Manager.

If clinical, in the first instance the letter will be passed to the Clinical Governance Manager.  It may then be passed to the senior partner and a copy to the GP concerned asking for their comments.

A response letter will be sent within 14 calendar days for all complaints.  If an investigation cannot be completed within this time frame, you will be informed.

Once the complaint has been completed, it will be discussed at the monthly clinical meeting as a significant event and any learning / training issues will be implemented. 

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 (because of illness) of providing this.

Taking Your Complaint Further for Independent Review 

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, if you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to request an independent review of the complaint.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Customer helpline telephone number: 0345 015 4033

Address: Millbank Tower, 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4QP

Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk/make-a-complaint