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.