St Ann Street Medical Practice
Weekend Telephone Triage Scheme
Making a Complaint
Who can complain?
Anyone who is receiving, or has received, NHS treatment or
services can complain, as can anyone affected by the outcome
of actions. If you are unable to make a complaint yourself, then
someone can act on your behalf with your written
consent. Young persons (under age 18) are entitled to
complain independently. The NHS cannot consider a complaint
made on behalf of a young person unless they are sure that
the young person is unable to complain themselves.
What information will be needed to make my complaint?
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Your name, address and contact telephone number and
those of the person that you may be complaining for;
including their date of birth and their NHS number.
A summary of what has happened, giving dates where
possible.
A list of things that you are complaining about
What you would like to happen as a result of your
complaint.
What can I expect?
A member of the complaints team will contact you and agree
the best way forward for investigating your complaint, taking
into account your desired outcome. The issues will be fully
investigated and you should then receive your response (which
can be a written response or a meeting with relevant staff)
within the agreed timescales. Please do not worry about the
service you receive in future being adversely affected because
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you have made a complaint. We take all comments seriously
and only use the information to review our services and make
improvements, where needed.
If you are the patient concerned, you can complain about your
own care. You are unable to complain about someone else’s
treatment without their written authority. See the separate
section in this leaflet.
At the back of this leaflet, you will find the complaints form to
register your complaint and a third-party authority form to
enable a complaint to be made by someone else.
Send your written complaint to:
PALS and Complaints Manager
NHS Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group
Southgate House
Pans Lane
Devizes SN10 5EQ.
Their telephone number is 0300 123 2103
email [email protected]
What we do next
We look to settle complaints as soon as possible. We will
acknowledge receipt within 3 working days, and aim to have
looked into the matter within 10 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.
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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.
Where your complaint involves more than one organisation
(e.g. social services) we will liaise with that organisation so that
you receive one coordinated reply. We may need your consent
to do this. Where your complaint has been sent initially to an
incorrect organisation, we may seek your consent to forward
this to the correct person to deal with. 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.
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.
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We may still need to correspond direct with the patient, or may
be able to deal direct with the third party, and this depends on
the wording of the authority provided.
The period for making a complaint is normally:
(a) 12 months from the date on which the event which is the
subject of the complaint occurred; or
(b) 12 months from the date on which the event which is the
subject of the complaint comes to the complainant's notice.
Complaints should normally be resolved within 6 months. Our
standard will be 10 days for a response.
The Complaints Manager has the discretion to extend the time
limits if you have good reason for not making the complaint
sooner, or where it is still possible to properly investigate the
complaint despite extended delay.
When considering an extension to the time limit it is important
that the Complaints Manager takes into consideration that the
passage of time may prevent an accurate recollection of
events by the clinician concerned or by the person bringing the
complaint. The collection of evidence, Clinical Guidelines or
other resources relating to the time when the complaint event
arose may also be difficult to establish or obtain. These factors
may be considered as suitable reason for declining a time limit
extension.
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If, after the complaint procedure is completed, you do not feel
your issue has been addressed, you may then contact NHS
England to take the matter further:Email: [email protected]
Telephone on 0300 311 2233
And, subsequently, if you remain unhappy with the outcome, it
can be referred to the Parliamentary and Health Services
Ombudsman (PHSO). The Ombudsman may investigate
complaints, but only if this has already been investigated for
local resolution. There is no charge for this service. The
contact details are:The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London SW1P 4QP
Tel: 0345 015 4033
(open 08:30 – 17:30, Mon to Fri)
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS)
If you would like to receive independent advice from someone
about the complaints process, you should contact the S.E.A.P
Advocacy Service who offers help and support to those
wishing to make a formal complaint about the NHS and can
help you to write your letter of complaint and accompany you
to any meetings.
Telephone: 0330 440 9000
Email: [email protected]
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Fax: 01424 204687
Website: http://www.seap.org.uk/local-authority/bath-north-eastsomerset.html
COMPLAINT FORM
Your name and title
The name of the patient, if it is
not yourself
Patient’s date of birth
Your address:
Your telephone number
Details of your complaint
Please include dates, times and names of personnel if
known; and what happened.
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SIGNED…………………………………. Date……………………….
Patient Third Party Consent Form
If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, please use
this form.
The patient’s name and title:
Their address:
Their telephone number:
Your name and title:
Your address:
Your telephone number:
The patient must sign this statement:
I fully consent to my doctor releasing information to, and
discussing my care and medical records with the person
named above in relation to this complaint only, and I wish
this person to complain on my behalf.
This authority is for an indefinite period / for a limited period
only (delete as appropriate)
Where a limited period applies, this authority is valid until
(insert date) __________
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Signed: ………………………………………. (Patient only)
Date: …………………………………………..
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