PRACTICE COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
PATIENT INFORMATION SHEET
If you have a complaint about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff at St Johns Medical Centre, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of an NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our procedure meets national criteria.
How to complain
We envisage 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 – as this will help to establish the facts of the situation more easily. If this is not possible, please let us have details of your complaint:-
- within six months of the incident that caused the problem or
- within six months of discovering that you have a problem, provided details are presented within 12 months of the incident.
Complaints should be addressed to Mr Ian Sadler, Practice Manager. Alternatively you may wish to ask for an appointment to discuss your concerns. It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible about your complaint.
What we will do
We will acknowledge your complaint within two working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within ten working days of the date when you raised it with us. We should then be in a position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with the people involved. When handling your complaint, we will aim to:-
- establish what happened and what went wrong;
- make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you choose this option;
- make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate;
- identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.
Complaining on behalf of someone else
Please note that we strictly adhere 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.
Complaining to the healthcare commission
We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give use the best opportunity of correcting whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. It does not affect your right to approach the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) for the North West if you feel you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation. ICAS is represented by the Carers Federation Ltd whose contact details are shown below:-
5th Floor, Arthur House, Chorlton Street, Manchester M1 3FH
Telephone 0300 456 8350
If you feel dissatisfied with the practice response to your complaint but you would prefer not to contact the practice further then you can ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to review your complaint. The Ombudsman would generally only agree to review a complaint if they feel you have exhausted all attempts to resolve your complaint at local level, and the contact information is detailed below:-
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London SW1P 4QP
Advice helpline: 0345 015 4033
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
A patient information leaflet can be accessed via the Ombudsman website.
February 2015
PATIENT COMPLAINT FORM
COMPLAINANT’S DETAILS
NAME
ADDRESS
PATIENTS DETAILS (WHERE DIFFERENT FROM ABOVE)
NAME
ADDRESS
DATE OF BIRTH
REGISTERED GP
DETAILS OF COMPLAINT INCLUDING DATE (S) OF EVENT AND PERSONNEL INVOLVED
Complainant’s signature ______Date ______
Partners: Dr JP Allred Dr RV Bell Dr TG Earnshaw Dr NP Lord Dr DJ Marsh Dr MS Sangha
Practice Manager: Ian Sadler