We try to ensure that all our patients are pleased with their experience of our services. We welcome feedback from patients and take any complaints seriously. We aim to deal with complaints courteously and efficiently so they can be resolved as quickly as possible.
Our complaints procedure outlines how we deal with any complaints. The person responsible for handling complaints in the practice is Louise Austrin.
How to Complain
We hope that most issues can be resolved easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your issues cannot be sorted out this way and you wish to make a complaint, you can do so verbally by speaking to one of our team members, who will direct you to our complaints lead, or you can write to us by letter or email.
Complaints Made Verbally
If you wish to make a complaint over the phone or in person, we will listen to your complaint and offer to refer you to our complaints lead. If they are unavailable, the staff member will take your details and a brief explanation of the complaint to pass on. Your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days.
Complaints Made via Email or Letter
Any letters or emails regarding a complaint will be immediately passed to our complaints lead. Your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days.
Investigations
We will contact you to discuss your complaint unless it can be resolved easily. Any complaints involving clinical care will be referred to the treating doctor unless you request otherwise.
We will then investigate your complaint and aim to have a response for you within ten working days. If it is not possible to resolve this within that timeframe, we will inform you and let you know when it is likely to be resolved. Once we have made a decision regarding your complaint, we will inform you using your preferred contact method.
It is possible that if a complaint concerns clinical care or is complex, we may need to seek advice from our insurers, indemnifiers, or legal advisors and may need to share some of your information for this purpose.
Complaining on behalf of Someone Else
Please note that we strictly adhere to the rules of clinical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we must 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 physical or mental illness) of providing this.
Time Limits for Opening Complaints
Complaints should be made within 12 months of the incident or when the complainant first discovered the problem.
Complaints to External Bodies
We hope you will use our practice complaints procedure if you have a concern. We believe this gives us the best chance to correct whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. However, this does not affect your right to complain to an external body if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or are dissatisfied with our investigation’s result.
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The CQC: The CQC does not get involved with complaints about the practice. They do, however, encourage feedback on service providers.
Telephone: 03000 616161 (Mon to Fri, 8:30am – 5:30pm, excluding Bank Holidays) -
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Telephone: 0345 015 4033
Website: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk -
The GMC
Telephone: 0161 923 6602
Website: https://www.gmc-uk.org/concerns/raise-a-concern