Complaints policy

We endeavour to always give you the best service possible but there may be occasions when you feel you wish to express dissatisfaction.

Our Practice Complaints Procedure is part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints, and it conforms to national criteria.

How to complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, 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 to know as soon as possible – Ideally, within a matter of days or at most a few weeks – because this will enable us

To establish exactly what happened more easily:

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.

Complaints should be addressed to the Practice Manager, or any of the doctors.

Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with the practice manager to discuss your concerns. The complaints procedure will be explained to you and your concerns will be dealt with promptly.

What we shall do

We shall acknowledge your complaint within three to five working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 10 working days of the date when you raised it with us, provided the appropriate personnel are not away from the surgery. 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 happened and what went wrong.
Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate.
Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.
Arrange for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this. It may be helpful to use the services of an independent, trained conciliator appointed by the local Health Authority.

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 his or her permission to do so.

A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness) to provide this.

Further steps

We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. However, this does not affect your right to approach the Patients Advisory Liaison Service (PALS) or The Parliamentary & Health Ombudsman, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us OR if you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation.

Contact details: