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How to Make a
Complaint Our Policy
At the Calverton Practice we are always striving
to offer you the very best healthcare
available. Unfortunately, sometimes you may
feel that we do not reach our usual high
standards and this information sets out how you
may bring this to our attention. It also
describes the steps we will take to fully
investigate your complaint and what you can do
if you are not happy with the outcome of any
investigation. Please be assured that the fact
that you make a complaint will not negatively
affect how we care for you or your family. The
Calverton Practice will treat all complaints
received fairly and transparently and will
endeavour to learn from mistakes by undertaking
rigorous analysis of the root causes of any real
or perceived failure.
The NHS Complaints Procedure
The NHS Complaints process is designed to
achieve speedy and effective resolution for both
patients and the organisation receiving the
complaint. It recognises that dealing with
complaints locally is often the most immediate
and responsive method of resolution. What this
means in practice is that we would be happy to
offer you the opportunity to explain why you may
be unhappy with our service and to discuss with
you what steps we can take together to make
things right. We have an internal complaint
handling process set up so that any complaint we
receive will be dealt with efficiently,
sensitively and fairly. Generally, the NHS
would expect to receive a complaint within 12
months of the problem (or your awareness of it)
occurring. However, we can use our discretion
if circumstances have prevented you from making
your complaint in good time.
What to do now
The person within our organisation who is the
‘named manager’ for dealing with complaints is
our Chief Executive, Mr Alan Selden. In the
first instance you should raise your complaint
with him, either in writing or by telephone here
at the Practice. When your complaint is
received, the Chief Executive will telephone or
write to you within 3 working days to discuss it
with you and to agree a plan for how we might
resolve matters. On occasion, depending on the
nature of the complaint, we may need to speak
with third parties as part of our investigation
or where the complaint covers more than one NHS
organisation. In such circumstances we will
always seek your consent.
What if I’m not happy to talk to the Practice?
Another way of achieving local resolution of a
complaint is to take advantage of the local
Primary Care Trust’s (PCT) Patient Advice and
Liaison Service (PALS). PALS will help you to
direct your complaint to the right person or
organisation and Nottinghamshire PALS may be
contacted on 0800 028 3693, by email:
pals@nottspct.nhs.uk or by writing to them
at the following address:
Complaints Team
Freepost RRRZ-JBHB-JYRS
Patient Advice & Liaison Service
NHS Nottinghamshire County
NG21 0HJ
The Practice has not resolved my
complaint. Where can I go now?
If you feel that you have reached the end of the
local resolution stage and you are still not
satisfied that your complaint has been
appropriately addressed, you may approach the
Health Service Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is the
final recourse within the NHS Complaints process
and is a free and independent service which may
only look at and/or investigate complaints if he
feels that all opportunities for local
resolution have been thoroughly pursued and that
there is still an outstanding issue to be
addressed. The website of the Health Service
Ombudsman is located at
www.ombudsman.org.uk where a fuller
explanation of the service offered may be
found. The helpline (calls to which are charged
at normal UK landline rates) is 0345 015 4033.
Multi Agency Complaints
If, as does occasionally happen, your complaint
covers more than one NHS body, you need only
send one letter of complaint. The receiving
institution will liaise with all those involved
to provide an appropriately co-ordinated
response to you.
Conclusion
We hope that this information helps you to
understand how to make a complaint and what will
happen to your complaint once it is received by
the Practice. We wish to work with all our
patients in as harmonious and productive manner
as possible and we believe that our Complaints
Procedure reflects this aspiration.
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