Complaints

How do I make a complaint?

Anyone who is receiving or has received NHS treatment is entitled to complain. With consent a complaint can also be made by someone acting on behalf of a person or patient.

The first stage of a complaint is “Local Resolution” where you should make your complaint to the organisation or primary care practitioner providing the service. You can raise any concerns by speaking to a member of staff, for example a doctor, nurse, dentist or practice manager. You can also speak to the local Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) who will be familiar with the local complaints procedure and support services available.

The aim of local resolution is to resolve complaints quickly and as close to the source of the complaint as possible, they may be able to resolve your complaint immediately, without the need for a more formal complaint. If this is not possible they should tell you to whom you should make a formal complaint.

If after local resolution you still want to continue with your complaint you can do so orally or by writing (including email) to the primary care practitioner or organisation concerned. If you are complaining to a hospital trusts it it usually best to address your complaint to the Chief Executive if you are unable to find a contact name for the Complaints Department.

You should receive a response within 10 working days from a primary care practitioner and 25 working days from the Chief Executive of the NHS organisation. This deadline can be extended with your agreement if your complaint is particularly complicated. If this happens you should be kept informed of all progress.

Most complaints will be answered in a letter from the Chief Executive of the Trust or a senior investigating manager.

If you would like any help with your complaint, and live in England, you can contact your local the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) (click here for contact numbers).

For Welsh residents the Complaints Advocacy Officer from your local Community Health Council will be able to help with complaints queries.

In Scotland your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau will send you a complaints leaflet advising you to contact the organisation you are complaining against.

What time restrictions apply to complaints?

You should make your complaint within six months of the event/incident concerned or within six months from when you realised you has cause for complaint.

If you have been very ill or distressed, or there are good reasons why you could not complain in this time, primary care practitioners and NHS complaints managers have discretion to waive or extend this time limit.

What to do if you are still unhappy following a complaint

If you are unhappy with the initial response to your complaint you can ask for the complaint to be investigated further by a more senior manager, or ask to meet with specific members of staff. It may also be helpful to ask the Trust to explain exactly how they have investigated the response. If your complaint involved a serious incident, such as where someone has died or been hurt all Trusts should operate an investigative procedure called Root Cause Analysis; you can ask the Trust if this technique has been used and to have a copy of the report. You can also ask to seethe Incident report forms that were completed at the time.

If following local resolution you remain unhappy with the Trust’s response you can ask the ask for an independent review. In England this will be carried out by the Healthcare Commission who can be contacted on 0845 601 3012. In Northern Ireland reviews are the responsibility of health boards.

Scotland and Wales do not have an equivalent organisation and complaints will need to be referred directly to the Health Service Ombudsman.

Following an independent review the person leading the review can act in three ways:

Refer the matter back to the Trust if they feel local resolution may still be helpful
Set up an independent review panel to investigate the complaint
Take no further action if they feel nothing more can be achieved

If forwarded to an Independent Review panel you will need to explain to the panel why you are not satisfied with the responses you have received. You will be able to attend with a friend or relative or if you would prefer you can ask an ICAS complaints officer or PALS advisor to accompany you to the meeting. The panel will also speak to members of staff involved in the complaint as well as taking advice from independent clinical experts before coming to its conclusion.

The panel will then produce a final report within a month of the hearing. This will include the Panel’s comments and recommendation. Following this the Chief Executive of the Trust will write to you explaining what action they are going to take as a result of the review. This should include any timescales involved after which they should write to you again with an update.

If following the local resolution and Independent Review Report you remain unhappy you can write to the Health Service Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is completely independent of both the NHS and Government and can be contacted at:

Milbank Tower, Milbank, London SW1P 4QP

0845 015 4033

OHSC.Enquries@ombudsman.gsi.gov.uk