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Complaints Procedure

If you have a serious and genuine complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of a NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

How To Complain

We hope that most minor 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, or you discovering that you have a problem.

Complaints should ideally be in writing and be addressed to David Morter, practice manager, or to Dr Anna Malpas-Sands, GP partner, our clinical complaints lead. Please give as much detail as you can and be as specific as possible about your concerns. If you would like to discuss your complaint with someone please let us know. Make sure you also indicate what outcome you are seeking from your complaint.

What We Will Do

All complaints are formally noted. We aim to acknowledge written complaints within 3 working days of receipt and verbal complaints made by telephone are usually recorded. You are encouraged to complain in writing where possible. We aim to give our response to you within 21 working days but if the matter is likely to take longer than this, we will let you know and keep you informed as the investigation progresses.

When we look into a 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 doesn’t happen again.

We will usually send our formal reply to you in writing. You may be invited to meet with the person(s) concerned to attempt to resolve the issue.

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, stating why they are unhappy with their treatment and that we can deal with someone else on their behalf. 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 a letter.

Complaining to NHS England

If you would prefer that the practice does not deal with your complaint, your complaint should be addressed to:

Customer Contact Centre at NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT

Email: england.contactus@nhs.net

Telephone: 0300 3112233

They will get our local area team’s input in trying to resolve problems.

Help With Complaining

The NHS Complaints Advocacy Service gives independent advice and support during a complaint investigation.

In Norfolk POhWER, Equal Lives and Age UK have advisers.

Telephone: 0300 456 2370

Norfolk Healthwatch helps patients get assistance and direction to local services.

Telephone: 0808 168 9669

Last Resort

As a last resort there is the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman who investigate complaints that individuals have been treated unfairly or have received poor service from the NHS in England.

Telephone: 0345 015 4033

Textphone (Minicom): 0300 0614298