Feedback and complaints about NHS services
You have the right to make a complaint about any aspect of NHS care, treatment or service, and this is written into the NHS Constitution on GOV.UK.
The NHS encourages feedback because it’s used to improve services. If you wish to share your views and experiences, positive or negative, simply speak to a member of staff.
The NHS has more information about complaints.
Making a complaint
Most problems can be sorted out quickly and easily, often by talking to us first.
If you can’t resolve the issue this way and want to make a formal complaint, it’s best to do so in writing as soon as possible, ideally within a few days. This helps us understand what happened. You need to make the complaint:
- Within 12 months of the incident, or
- Within 12 months of realising there’s a problem.
Explain your complaint clearly with as many details as possible.
If you’re a registered patient, you can complain about your own care. You can’t complain about someone else’s treatment without their written permission.
You can also write your complaint in your own format, as long as it includes all the necessary details.
You can fill in the admin request form and select “something else” or you can send your written complaint to:
Practice Manager
New Road Surgery
166 New Road
Croxley Green
WD3 3HD
How we handle complaints
We aim to settle complaints as quickly as possible. You should expect an acknowledgement about the handling of your complaint within 3 working days of us receiving your complaint.
We will then investigate your complaint and prepare a response.
You may get a formal written reply or be invited to speak to, or meet with, the people involved to resolve the issue. There’s no set timeframe for responding, as this will depend on the nature of your complaint.
Please be aware that there is a different time period allowed for the practice to respond to Subject Access Requests and this is detailed elsewhere in our practice policies.
When we investigate a complaint, we try to understand what happened and why, to learn from it, and give you the chance to discuss it with those involved if appropriate.
If your complaint involves more than one organisation (e.g. social services), we’ll respond to our part but will recommend you to raise the complaint separately where appropriate.
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 in your covering letter.
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.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome
You have the right to direct your complaint to:
NHS England
Po Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Website: www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/complaint
You have the right to approach the Ombudsman. The contact details are:
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
30 Millbank
Westminster
London
SW1P 4QP
Tel: 0345 015 4033
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
The practice Complaints Manager is: The Practice Manager
The Practice Complaints lead is: Dr C Jenkins
Support for the complainant
You may also like to contact the NHS Complaints Advocacy Service OhWER who are independent advocates, who offer support to complainants.
Address:
OhWER
PO Box 14043,
Birmingham,
B6 9BL
Tel: 0300 456 2370
Website: www.pohwer.net/hertfordshire