Complaints Procedure

 

 

LET THE PRACTICE KNOW YOUR VIEWS

Hawthorn Drive Surgery is always looking to improve the services it offers to patients. To do this effectively, the Practice needs to know what you think about services you receive. Tell us what we do best, where we don’t meet your expectations plus any ideas and suggestions you may have. Only by listening to you can the Practice continue to build and improve upon the service it offers.

 

TELL US ABOUT OUR SERVICE BY COMPLETING THE COMMENTS FORM IN THIS LEAFLET

  • Could you easily get through on the telephone?
  • Did you get an appointment to speak to or see the clinician you wanted to see?
  • Were you seen within 20 minutes of your scheduled appointment time?
  • Were our staff courteous and helpful?

 

 

PRACTICE COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

If you have a complaint about the service you have received from any member of staff working in this practice, please let us know. The practice operates a Complaints Procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

Note: If you make a complaint, it is practice policy to ensure you are not discriminated against, or subjected to any negative effect on your care, treatment or support.

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HOW TO COMPLAIN

In the first instance, please discuss your complaint with the staff member concerned. Where the issue cannot be resolved at this stage, please contact our Practice Manager / Deputy Practice Manager who will try to resolve the issue and offer you further advice on the complaints procedure. If your problem cannot be resolved at this stage and you wish to make a formal complaint, please let us know as soon as possible, ideally within a matter of days. This will enable the practice to get a clear picture of the circumstances surrounding the complaint. Complaints can be made verbally (both in person and over the phone), in writing or by email.

If it is not possible to raise your complaint immediately, please let us have details of your complaint within the following timescales.

  • Within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem

OR

  • Within 12 months from when the complaint comes to your notice.

The practice will acknowledge your complaint within three working days.

The Practice will arrange a meeting with you to discuss the complaint and to agree with you how the complaint is going to be investigated. The complaint will be dealt with within 30 working days.

When the Practice looks into the complaint it aims too:

  • Ascertain the full circumstances of the complaint.
  • Make arrangements 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 the Practice can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.

 

COMPLAINING ON BEHALF OF SOMEONE ELSE

Please note that Hawthorn Drive Surgery keeps strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, the practice needs to know that you have the permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be required, unless they are incapable of providing this due to illness or disability.

 

COMPLAINING TO OTHER AUTHORITIES

If you feel dissatisfied with our response, you can contact any of the following 3 bodies:

Patients Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

Telephone: 01473 704 781 or

0800 328 7624

Email: pals.service@ipswichhospital.nhs.uk

Website: www.ipswichhospital.nhs.uk/PALS

Independent Complaints and Advocacy Service (ICAS)

Helpline: 0300 330 5454

Textphone: 07860 022 939

Ipswich & East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

Telephone: 01473 770 000

 

Contacting the Care Quality Commission

If you have a genuine concern about a staff member or regulated activity carried out by this Practice then you can contact the Care Quality Commission on 03000 616 161, or alternatively visit the following website: http://www.cqc.org.uk

 

 

PALS, ICAS & OMBUDSMAN

PATIENT ADVISORY LIAISON SERVICE (PALS)

PALS provide a confidential service designed to help patients get the most from the NHS. PALS can tell you more about the NHS complaints procedure and may be able to help you resolve your complaint informally. Your local PALS office can be found on:

http://www.ipswichhospital.nhs.uk/PALS

INDEPENDENT COMPLAINTS AND ADVOCACY SERVICE (ICAS)

ICAS is a national service that supports people who want to make a complaint about their NHS Care or treatment. Your local ICAS service can be found on:

http://nhscomplaintsadvocacy.org

OMBUDSMAN

If you are not happy with the response from this Practice, you can refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman who investigates complaints about the NHS in England.

You can call the Ombudsman’s Complaints Helpline on 0345 015 4033 or visit http://www.ombudsman.org.uk or Textphone (Minicom): 0300 061 4298