Complaints Procedure
We aim to provide the highest standard of care to all our patients, but unfortunately sometimes misunderstandings occur and you may wish to raise a concern or make a complaint. If you have a concern or complaint about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the personnel working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of a NHS complaints system, which meets national criteria.
Making a complaint
We hope that most problems can be resolved easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned and this may be the approach you try first.
Complaints may be made to the practice or direct to PALS at NHS Wiltshire. PALS contact details can be found below.
If you wish to direct your complaint to the practice please ask for an appointment with a Practice Manager to discuss your concerns. Depending on the nature of the complaint the Practice Manager will try to resolve the issue to your satisfaction. If your complaint is of a clinical matter, or treatment received from a doctor, you may be offered an appointment with the clinician involved.
Where you are not able to resolve your complaint in this way and wish to make a formal complaint you should do so, preferably in writing as soon as possible after the event and ideally within a few days, as this helps us 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 have a problem
State your case clearly 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 are able to provide you with a separate complaints form, which you may download here, to register your complaint and this includes a third-party authority form to enable a complaint to be made by someone else. Please try to be as specific as possible about your complaint and complete the form fully. Your complaint should be sent either to our Practice Managers, Carol Adams.
What we do next:
We will acknowledge receipt within three working days, and aim to have looked into the matter within ten working days. 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 than this we will let you know, and keep you informed as the investigation progresses.
When looking into a complaint we attempt to see what happened and why, to see if there is something we can learn from this, and make it possible for you to discuss the issue with those involved if you would like to do so.
When the investigations are complete your complaint will be determined and a final response sent to you.
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. Please ask at reception for the Complaints Form which contains a suitable authority for the patient to sign to enable the complaint to proceed.
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.
If you are dissatisfied with the Outcome
We hope that if you have a problem with the service offered by this practice you will use our complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of rectifying any issues and an opportunity to improve our practice.
You may also approach PALS for help or advice; the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) is based at NHS Bath and North East Somerset Trust HQ, St Martin's Hospital, Clara Cross Lane, Bath, BA2 5RP. Tel 0800 389 7671 (24 hour freephone), email: pals@wiltshire.nhs.uk
You have the right to approach the Ombudsman:
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP, Tel: 0345 0154033, website www.ombudsman.org.uk
Complaints review
Each year the practice's partners hold an annual meeting to review all the complaints which have been received in the past year. About one third of all complaints give rise to some change in the way we operate.
Further help
We hope that if you experience a problem with the service offered by this practice you will use our complaints procedure. We believe that this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. But this does not affect your right to approach the PCT, if you do not wish to raise your complaint directly with us, or if you are dissatisfied with the result of any investigation which we may have made. You should contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Trust HQ, St Martin's Hospital, Clara Cross Lane, Bath, BA2 5RP. Telephone: 0800 389 7671 (24 hour freephone). Website: www.wiltshirepct.nhs.uk.