Complaints Policy

 

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Want to make a suggestion to the practice?

Your comments and suggestions are important to us, please complete our online form. Please only use this form for comments about the practice and suggestions as to how we can improve our service to you.

Medical matters and official complaints cannot be dealt with via this form. If you have a query regarding a medical matter please telephone reception to make an appointment to see the appropriate person.

Let the practice know your views

Irwell Medical Practice is always looking for ways to improve the services it offers to patients. To do this effectively, the practice needs to know what you think about the services you receive. Tell us what we do best, where we don’t meet your expectations plus any ideas and suggestions you may have. Only by listening to you can the practice continue to build and improve upon the service it offers.

Practice Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint about the service you have received from any member of staff working in this practice, please let us know. The practice operates a Complaints Procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

Note: If you make a complaint, it is practice policy to ensure you are not discriminated against, or subjected to any negative effect on your care, treatment, or support.

Duty of candour

This practice aims to be:

  • Open: enable concerns and complaints to be raised freely without fear. 
  • Transparent: allow information about the truth about performance & outcomes to be shared with staff, patients, the public and regulators. 
  • Candour: any patient harmed by the provision of a healthcare service is informed of the fact and an appropriate remedy offered, regardless of whether a complaint has been made or a question asked about it. 
 

Want to make a complaint?

We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.

However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.

To raise a complaint, please write into the practice for the attention of the Practice Manager following the correct complaints procedure. This will then be acknowledged and we will deal with your concerns appropriately.

Complaining to other Authorities

The practice management team hope that if you have a problem, you will use the Practice Complaints Procedure. 

However, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us, you can contact any of the following bodies:

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
Governance Unit
Park View Offices
Royal Blackburn Hospital
Haslingden
Blackburn
BB2 3HH

Telephone: 01254 733700
Email: complaints@elht.nhs.uk
Visit their website and search for PALS

Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB

Email: lsc.icb@nhs.net  
NHS England 
PO Box 16738 
Redditch
B97 9PT

Visit their website

Telephone: 0300 311 2233
Email: www.england.contactus@nhs.net

Contacting the Care Quality Commission 

If you have a genuine concern about a staff member or regulated activity carried on by this Practice then you can contact the Care Quality Commission on 03000 616161, or alternatively visit their website.

 

Patient Advisory Liaison Service (PALS)

PALS provide a confidential service designed to help patients get the most from the NHS. PALS can tell you more about the NHS complaints procedure and may be able to help you resolve your complaint informally. Your local PALS office can be contacted on 01254 733700 or email complaints@elht.nhs.uk 

 

The Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS)

ICAS can provide confidential help and support to assist you making our complaint. A local ICAS representative can also accompany you to meetings.

If you feel you need assistance in making your complaint, ICAS can be contacted on 0808 802 3000 or email icas@carersfederation.co.uk 

 

Ombudsman

If you are not happy with the response from this practice, you can refer your complaint 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 or by post at:

The Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

How to complain

Most problems can be resolved quickly and easily, often at the time they arise with the person concerned and this may be the approach you try first. Where the issue cannot be resolved at this stage, please contact Pauline Aspinall, Strategic Manager, via our website complaints section, or by written letter. We will try to resolve the issue and offer you further advice on the complaint’s procedure. If your problem cannot be resolved at this stage and you wish to make a formal complaint, please let us know as soon as possible, ideally within a matter of days. This will enable the practice to get a clear picture of the circumstances surrounding the complaint.

If it is not possible to raise your complaint immediately, please let us have details of your complaint within the following timescales:

  • Within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem

OR

  • Within 12 months from when the complaint comes to your notice 

The Practice will acknowledge your complaint within three working days.

The Practice will conduct a thorough investigation into your complaint and will respond fully as soon as they can, this is usually within 28 working days. 

When the practice investigates your complaint, it aims to:

  • Ascertain the full circumstances of the complaint.
  • Make arrangements 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 the practice can do to make sure the problem does not happen again

Complaining on behalf of someone else

Please note that Irwell Medical Practice adheres strictly to the rules of medical and personal confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, the practice needs to know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be required unless they are incapable of providing this due to illness or disability.

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 directly with the patient or may be able to deal direct with the third party, and this depends on the wording of the authority provided.