< Back to policies & procedures

Compliments, Comments, Concerns and Complaints

 

Leaving Feedback 

If you wish you can leave feedback about us by complete our Friends and Family questionnaire.

 

Making a Complaint

If you have any compliments, comments, concerns or complaints about our service we value your input. We hope that most 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 so that the details can be easily established.

Written complaints should be addressed to the Practice Manager, Mrs Victoria Hamer, Langley House Surgery, 27 West Street, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1RW or, alternatively, you may request an appointment to discuss your concerns. It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible about your complaint.

If you have a complaint to make, please don’t be afraid to say how you feel, we welcome feedback to help us improve our standards and you will not be treated any differently because you have complained. We will simply do our best to put right anything that has gone wrong.

Our full complaints leaflet can be found below including details of where to go if you are unhappy with our complaints procedure and we cannot resolve issues locally.
IHCAS is the independent service providing advocacy support to those wishing to make a complaint about their NHS care or treatment.

Practice Complaints Procedure

We always try to give you the best services possible, but if you feel you have a complaint or concern about a service provided then you can use this information leaflet to help guide you through our Practice Complaints Procedure which follows the NHS system for dealing with complaints and meets National Criteria.

How to complain

We hope that most 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 so that the details can be easily established.

Written complaints should be addressed to the Practice Manager or, alternatively, you may telephone or ask for an appointment to discuss your concerns. It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible about your complaint.

What we shall do

We shall acknowledge your complaint within three working days, either verbally, or in writing. We welcome the opportunity to discuss all matters with you and to involve you in the process as to how we will handle the complaint. We will deal with the investigation as efficiently and as speedily as is reasonably practical and we will keep you informed of the progress if matters are delayed for any reason. Once we have fully investigated, we shall then be in a position to offer you a written explanation, and a meeting with the people involved if you wish this. We aim to do this within 14 working days of your complaint. When we look into your complaint, we shall 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 does not happen again.

As part of investigating your complaint, we may need to talk to multiple members of our practice team, and also review your medical record for a relevant time period. We will assume that we have your consent to do this unless we hear otherwise. If we need to contact organisations outside of the practice, we will contact you to gain your explicit consent to do so.

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, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.

What happens if you are unhappy with our complaints procedure?

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our Practice Complaints Procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. If you do not want to contact the practice directly, you can contact the NHS Sussex Complaints Team who will discuss with you whether it is appropriate for them to investigate a complaint on your behalf. If you are not satisfied with the way the NHS has dealt with your complaint, you can refer your complaint to the Public Service Ombudsman for England, which is independent of the government and the NHS.

The Ombudsman will normally only take on a complaint after you have first tried to resolve the complaint with the organisation involved and have received a response from them.

How to contact the NHS Sussex Complaints Team

 

The Independent Health Complaints Advocacy Service (IHCAS)

IHCAS is the independent service providing advocacy support to those wishing to make a complaint about their NHS care or treatment

How to make a complaint to Healthwatch Westsussex

Other independent advocacy services include:

  • POhWER: a charity that helps people to be involved in decisions being made about their care. 
  • The Advocacy People: gives advocacy support.
  • Age UK: may have advocates in the area.

Local councils can offer support in helping the complainant to find an advocacy service. Find your local council

 

Public Service Ombudsman for England

How to make a complaint to the Public Service Ombudsman

Complaints about adult community health services

E.g. community nursing and therapy services.