How to make a complaint if you are unhappy with our service
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. Under the 2009 Regulations, you have two choices if you have a complaint: you can complain to the practice as the provider of the service; OR you can complain to NHS England as the Commissioner of the service. You can only have your complaint investigated once by one or other of the organisations.
How to complain
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, preferably 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 six months of the incident that caused the problem:
- Or within six months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident.
Written complaints should be addressed to the Practice Manager. 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 three working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 10 working days of the date when you raised it with us. We will then be in a position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with the people involved. When we look into your complaint, we will aim to:
- find out what happened and what went wrong
- make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like to
- make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate
- identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again.
You will be asked if you are satisfied with the way the matter was resolved and given the opportunity to question anything you are unsure of.
If the complaint is not resolved we will signpost you as the complainant to the Ombusdsman.
Don’t want to complain to us?
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.
If you feel you are not satisfied with the response received, you have the right to take your complaint to the Health Service Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is independent of the government and the NHS and her service is confidential and free.
If you have any questions about whether the Ombudsman will be able to help you, or about how to make a complaint, you can contact their helpline on 0345 015 4033.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Tel: 0345 015 4033
8.30am–5.30pm Monday to Friday
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
Other support
You may also like to contact the following if you need further help with making your complaint.
NHS England
The contact details are:
NHS Commissioning Board
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT
Email: england.contactus@nhs.net
Please write ‘For the attention of the Complaints Manager’ in the subject line.
Phone: 0300 311 22 33 (Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, excluding English Bank Holidays)
PALS
Patient Relations provide a PALS service for GP issues. The contact details are:
Email: NYCCG.PatientRelations@nhs.net
Phone: 01609 767607
North Yorkshire CCG Clinical Commsioning Group
1 Grimbald Crag Court
St James Business Park
Knaresborough
HG5 8QB
ICA – Independent Complaints Advocacy service which is free to complainants. This is provided by Cloverleaf Advocacy.
They can be contacted as follows:
North Yorkshire NHS Complaints Advocacy Service
4 Devonshire Court
Green Lane Trading Estate
Clifton Moor
York
YO30 4XL
Email: helpwithnhscomplaintsnorthyorks@cloverleaf-advocacy.co.uk
Phone: 0300 012 4212