How to Complain
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 procedure meets national criteria and are in accordance with the NHS Constitution for England published 21st January 2009
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. You may also ask to speak to the Practice Manager at any time regarding any concerns you might have. 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 12 months of the incident that caused the problem; or
- Within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided that this is within 12 months of the incident
Complaints should be addressed to the 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 we will make sure your concerns are dealt with promptly. It would be a great help if you are as specific as possible about your complaint. You can also ask a member of our staff for our complaint form. Wherever possible, we would ask that you put your complaint in writing.
What we shall do
We shall acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 10 working days of when you raised this with us. There may be occasions where it is not possible to adhere to these timescales for example, in the event of a person being absent on annual leave. However, we will deal with your issue as quickly as circumstances allow. We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation or a meeting with the people involved. When we look into your complaint, we shall aim to :
- Find out what went wrong
- Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this
- Make sure you receive an apology where this is appropriate
- Identify what we can do to make sure this problem does not happen again
Complaining on behalf of someone else
Please note we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we need 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.
Complaining to our Commissioners
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 give us an opportunity to improve our practice. However, from 1st April 2009, you have a right to complain directly to the organization that commissions services from us
From 1st April 2013 all Primary Care complaints need to be directed to NHS England
By post
NHS Commissioning Board
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT
Electronically using the commissioning board’s email address
Please write ‘For the attention of the Complaints Manager’ in the subject line.
By telephone
0300 311 22 33 (Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, excluding English Bank Holidays)
Your complaint will be noted and passed to the Complaints Manager
However, if you make your complaint to us and then are not satisfied with the outcome, you cannot then take your complaint to NHS England, you would need to follow the procedure outlined below.
Also with effect from 1st April 2009, a new organization called Care Quality Commission will ensure that all medical services providers have effective systems in place for dealing with complaints. They are not able to deal with individual complaints, so if you feel that your complaint has not been satisfactorily dealt with by either ourselves or NHS England, you have a right to contact the Health Service Ombudsman. They can be contacted as follows:
Helpline – 0345 015 4033
Post – Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP or on the internet at
Suggestions
We want to ensure that we meet our aims of providing our patients with the highest standard of care. If you have any concerns or indeed, suggestions as to how we can improve, please contact Sandra Reynolds, Practice Manager. You can telephone on 0121 742 5211, write to her care of the Practice, or e mail to
Hobs Moat Medical Centre
Practice Complaints Procedure