Receiving compliments, informal feedback or formal complaints is important to ensuring good quality healthcare in our practice – helping us to find out more about what we’re getting right and what or where we can improve.
We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone all our patients at AMC. However, we are aware that sometimes things can go wrong which may result in patients or relatives feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint.
If this is so, we would like to work with you to resolve the matter as quickly, and as amicably, as possible. We very much want to hear about things that haven’t gone well so that we can investigate, learn and improve things for the future.
To help us make sure we provide the best possible care and attention, we offer patients the opportunity to tell us, informally, of any suggestions they have for the further improvement of their healthcare. Whether you are happy or unhappy with the care and treatment that you have received, please get in touch and let us know your views.
Patients are encouraged to fill out our online “Compliments and Suggestions” form, or send a letter to the practice for the attention of the Practice Manager. Forms may be completed anonymously, but if a response is required we will aim to discuss this with you within ten working days.
How to make a complaint
If you wish to make a formal complaint about any aspect of our service, please address your concerns in writing to the Practice Manager (Mrs Debbie Turner). To have a complaint investigated, you need to lodge your complaint within 12 months of the event happening. If possible, we would want to hear from you as soon as you first become aware of the issue you want to complain about so that an investigation can be opened. The time limit can be extended in special circumstances.
There is a designated complaints form available from Reception or which we can email to you on request.
We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days of receipt and initiate a full internal investigation on your behalf.
A written explanation will be sent to you within ten working days but, should the investigation take longer, you will be kept informed of this.
On receipt of the written explanation, if a resolution is not agreed, you will be offered the opportunity to meet in order to discuss the outcome further.
Way to get in touch to lodge a complaint:
Complaints form available from Reception
Letter Address: Adelaide Medical Centre
Email: [email protected]
If you feel you do not want to contact the surgery directly, then you can contact the NHS Complaints team at:
NHS England
PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT
If you are making a complaint please state: ‘For the attention of the complaints team’ in the subject line.
Who can complain
Complainants may be current or former patients, or their nominated or elected representatives (who have been given consent to act on the patients behalf).
Patients over the age of 16 whose mental capacity is unimpaired should normally complain themselves or authorise someone to bring a complaint on their behalf.
Children under the age of 16 can also make their own complaint, if they’re able to do so.
If a patient lacks capacity to make decisions, their representative must be able to demonstrate sufficient interest in the patient’s welfare and be an appropriate person to act on their behalf. This could be a partner, relative or someone appointed under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 with lasting power of attorney.
We can arrange for a meeting with an interpreter for any patient whose first language is not English and needs help with their complaint.
Formal Complaints Process
We will contact you about your complaint within three working days and advise you on how we plan to address it, including the time scales for a reply. We will aim to offer you an explanation within the that time frame, or a meeting with the people involved.
Usually, we will conduct an internal investigation to find out what happened and what went wrong. This may involve listening to any telephone calls or reviewing your medical notes. If the complaint relates to a clinical matter then one of the senior GPs will be involved in the investigation process.
We may invite you to discuss the problem with those involved if you would like this.
We will always apologise where this is appropriate and we will work to identify what we can do to make sure that the problem does not happen again.
Stage one – Early, local resolution
We will try to resolve your complaint internally within ten working days if possible.
If you are dissatisfied with our response, you can ask us to escalate your complaint to Stage Two.
Stage Two – Investigation
We will take note and review your feedback to our first complaint response and further investigate.
We will again acknowledge your response within 3 working days and we will give you our decision as soon as possible. This will be no more than 20 working days unless there is clearly a good reason for needing more timely response.
Stage Three – Complain to the Ombudsman
If, after receiving our final decision, you remain dissatisfied you may take your complaint to the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman is independent of the NHS and free to use. It can help resolve your complaint, and tell the NHS how to put things right if it has got them wrong.
The Ombudsman only has legal powers to investigate certain complaints. You must have received a final response from the Practice before the Ombudsman can look at your complaint and it will generally not look into your complaint if it happened more than 12 months ago, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Address:
Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman
Tower 30, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP
Phone: 0345 015 4033
Organisations that can help you make a complaint about health services
Further information from Citizens Advice
Hampshire Hospitals Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
c/o The Customer Care Office
Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital
Aldermaston Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG24 9NA
Tel: 01256 486766
Email: [email protected]
Healthwatch Hampshire
Confidentiality
All complaints will be treated in the strictest confidence.
Where the investigation of the complaint requires consideration of the patient’s medical records, we will inform the patient or person acting on his/her behalf if the investigation will involve disclosure of information contained in those records to a person other than the Practice or an employee of the Practice.
We keep a record of all complaints and copies of all correspondence relating to complaints, but such records will be kept separate from patients’ medical records.
Statistics and reporting
The Practice must submit to the local primary care organisation periodically/at agreed intervals details of the number of complaints received and actioned.