Complaints

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this practice, please contact the surgery.

We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of an NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

If you make a complaint it will not affect the care we provide for you.

How to Complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned.

If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally, within a matter of days or at most a few weeks – because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint.

• Within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem
• Within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident

Complaints should be addressed to Mark Thatcher – practice manager or any of the doctors.

If you prefer you can make an appointment with the practice manager.

What we will do

We will acknowledge your complaint within two working days and aim to have investigated your complaint within 30 days of the date when you raised it with us. We will then be in a position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with the people involved.

When we look into your complaint, we aim to:

• Find out what happened and what went wrong
• Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this
• Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate
• Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again

Complaining on behalf of someone else

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so.

A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (for example because of illness) of providing this.

Complaining to other authorities

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe 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 local health authority, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us.

You should contact NHS England by using their website: www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us

Provide as much information as possible to allow NHS England to investigate the complaint.

Include some or all of the following: – your name and a valid email or home address for reply; – a clear description of your complaint; – copies of earlier associated correspondence between yourself and NHS England (if relevant) and – any valid correspondence case reference numbers if provided on any previous contact.

Advocacy Service for NHS Complaints

This is a national service that supports people who want to make a complaint about their NHS care of treatment.

Helpline: 01225 762 723

PALS (Patient Advice & Liaison Service)

Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group
Sanger House
5220 Valiant Court
Gloucester Business Park
Brockworth
Gloucester
GL3 4FE

Freephone: 0800 0151 548

Telephone: 0300 421 1523

Email: glccg.pals@nhs.net

As a last resort, if you are unhappy with the way we have responded to your complaint, then you can refer directly to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman who investigates complaints about the NHS in England.

You can call the Ombudsman’s Complaints Helpline on 0345 015 4033 or www.ombudsman.org.uk or textphone (minicom): 0300 061 4298