Compliments

We would like to hear from you!  Please call the surgery or send us a note to inform us what we have done well!  It is always very much appreciated.

Complaints

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

Most problems can be sorted out quickly and easily, often at the time they arise with the person concerned and this may be the approach you try first.

Where you are not able to resolve your complaint in this way and wish to take your complaint further you should do so by ringing the Practice Manager 01228 536561 as soon as possible after the event and ideally within a few days, as this helps us to establish what happened more easily. In any event, this should be:

• Within 12 months of the incident,
• or within 12 months of you discovering that you giving as much detail as you can.
• If you are a registered patient you can complain about your own care. You are unable to complain about someone else’s treatment without their written authority.

 We look to settle complaints as soon as possible.

We will acknowledge receipt within 3 working days, and aim to have looked into the matter within a reasonable amount of time. You may then receive a formal reply in writing, or you may be invited to meet with the person(s) concerned to attempt to resolve the issue. If the matter is likely to take longer we will let you know, and keep you informed as the investigation progresses.

When the investigations are complete your complaint will be determined and a final response sent to you.

Where your complaint involves more than one organisation (e.g. social services) we will liaise with that organisation so that you receive one coordinated reply. We may need your consent to do this. Where your complaint has been sent initially to an incorrect organisation, we may seek your consent to forward this to the correct person to deal with.

The final response letter will include details of the result of your complaint and also your right to escalate the matter further if you remain dissatisfied with the response.

 Complaining on Behalf of Someone Else

We keep to the strict rules of medical and personal confidentiality. If you wish to make a complaint and are not the patient involved, we will require the written consent of the patient to confirm that they are unhappy with their treatment and that we can deal with someone else about it.

Where the patient is incapable of providing consent due to illness or accident it may still be possible to deal with the complaint. Please provide the precise details of the circumstances which prevent this.

Please note that we are unable to discuss any issue relating to someone else without their express permission, which must be in writing, unless the circumstances above apply.

We may still need to correspond direct with the patient, or may be able to deal direct with the third party, and this depends on the wording of the authority provided.