Comments, Feedback and Complaints

We welcome comments and feedback about the Practice.

If you wish to compliment or complain about any aspect of the practice, you may use our compliments and complaints form

Alternatively you may contact a member of the management team directly.

Any problem will be investigated in confidence and with sensitivity.

We constantly look to improve services and patient care, and will welcome any constructive comments, which will help us to do so.

Complaints Procedure

We welcome compliments, suggestions, or concerns about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this practice.

We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of a NHS system for dealing with complaints.

As a patient of the NHS you have a right to:

Have your complaint dealt with efficiently
Have your complaint properly investigated
Be informed of the outcome of your complaint
Take your complaint to the Health Service Ombudsman if you are not satisfied with the outcome

How to complain (Local Resolution)

We hope 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 using our compliments and complaints form

We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days and offer to make arrangements to discuss your concerns. We will also give you an idea of how long our investigation may take
We will then investigate your complaint within the practice.
We will keep you informed of the progress of our investigation
We will send you a response explaining the outcome of our investigation and any actions to be taken as a result
We will aim to have looked into your complaint within 10 working days of the date when you raised it with us.

When we look into your complaint, we shall 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 this;
Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate;
Identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again.

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 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.

Help and Advice

You may wish to contact the NHS England on 0300 311 2233 or contact NHS England online.

Or the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) for advice.

ICAS
Ground Floor
7 Vale Avenue
Tunbridge Wells
TN11 1DJ

Tel: 0845 600 8616

What to do if you are not happy with our response

If you are not happy with our response (local resolution) you can ask the Health Service Ombudsman for an ‘independent review’. Their details are as follows:

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Tel: Complaints Helpline - 0345 015 4033

Contact the Ombudsman online