If you or your family have been happy with the service you have received please let us know so that the practice staff hear what they are doing right as well as what can be improved.
Giving feedback
To provide feedback:
- fill out a feedback form
- take part in the Friends and Family Test
- leave a review on the NHS website
- phone us on 0151 511 5672
- write to the surgery
At the Practice we all work hard to ensure we provide the best service that we can and it is lovely to hear from our patients and their families that we are doing a good job.
Making a complaint
Most problems can be sorted out quickly and easily, often at the time they arise with the person concerned and this may be the approach you try first.
Where you are not able to resolve your complaint in this way and wish to make a formal complaint you should do so, preferably in writing as soon as possible after the event and ideally within a few days, as this helps us to establish what happened more easily. In any event, this should be:
Within 12 months of the incident or within 12 months of discovering the incident occurred. Please give as much detail as you can.
If you are a registered patient 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.
We are able to provide you with a separate complaints form to register your complaint and this includes a third-party authority form to enable a complaint to be made by someone else. Please ask at reception for this. You can provide this in your own format providing this covers all the necessary aspects.
The practice complaints manager is Jennifer Kimm.
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 28 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.
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
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.
Please ask at reception for the complaints form which contains a suitable authority for the patient to sign to enable the complaint to proceed.
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.
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.
If you do not wish to complain directly to the practice you can approach NHS England directly with your complaint.
NHS England became responsible for Commissioning Primary Care Services from 1st April 2013, you may contact NHS England directly with your complaint. Their complaints team are based at:
NHS England, Regatta Place, Brunswick Business Park, Summers Road, Liverpool, L3 4BL
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome
PALS
You may also approach PALS for help or advice;
The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) is based at Halton & St Helens PCT Widnes Resource Centre. They provide confidential advice and support, helping you to sort out any concerns you may have about the care we provide, guiding you through the different services available from the NHS. Telephone number for PALS is 0151 296 7437
Email
pals@sthk.nhs.uk
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
You also have the right to approach the Ombudsman:
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Phone
0345 0154033
Website
www.ombudsman.org.uk
ICB – complaints process
Website
Complaints – NHS Cheshire and Merseyside
Phone
0800 132 996
Email
enquiries@cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk
Post:
Patient Experience Team
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside
No 1 Lakeside
920 Centre Park Square
Warrington
WA1 1QY
Healthwatch Advocacy
Please view the Healthwatch Advocacy poster (PDF) for information about how to get independent help when making a complaint about the NHS.
Friends and Family Test
The Friends & Family Test (FFT) has been introduced as a method of asking patients whether they would recommend healthcare services to their friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment. This feedback should be available to inform decision-making and choice for patients and to highlight good practice and areas where improvements can be made.