Crags Health Care has a robust complaints procedure. If you wish to make a complaint you can do so verbally to any member of staff or in writing to the practice manager.

A complaint can normally be made 12 months from the date of the event or 12 months from the date the complaint comes to the patients notice.

The practice follows 6 principles when dealing with complaints:

• Getting it right
• Being open and accountable
• Putting things right
• Being patient focused
• Acting fairly & proportionately
• Seeking continuous improvements

How to complain:

Most problems can be sorted quickly and easily, often at the time they arise.

Where you are not able to resolve your complaint in this way you may wish to make a formal complaint and we would ask you to put this in writing to the practice manager as soon as possible after the event.

In any event, complaints should be made within 12 months of the incident or within 12 months of you discovering your need to complain.

Please send your written complaint to:

Nina Chambers
Practice Manager
174 Elmton Road
Creswell
S80 4DY

If you wish to speak to the practice manager, the receptionist can arrange an appointment for you.

What will we do:

We will aim to settle your complaint as quickly as possible.

We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and aim to have looked into the matter within 10 working days.

We will make it possible for you to discuss your complaint with those involved should you wish. If your complaint involves another organisation we will liaise with them so that you receive a coordinated reply. We may need your consent to do this. 

The final response letter will include details of the result of your complaint and also your right to take the matter further if you remain dissatisfied with the response.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

We will require the written consent of the patient involved to confirm they are unhappy with their treatment and that we can deal with someone else about it.

Where the patient is unable to provide consent, it still may be possible to deal with the matter. Please provide details in your letter.

We cannot discuss any matter relating to someone else without their express permission.

There are four parts to the complaints procedure.

Our complaints procedure is based on these four parts:

• The initial stage
• The investigation
• The informal meeting/written explanation
• Follow-up and conclusion

A complaint can be made by the patient, a former patient, on behalf of a patient following the confidentiality policy and on behalf of a child.

A patient unable to make a complaint can be represented by someone with an interest in their welfare.

A copy of this policy is available on request.

A Complaint – The Investigation

Presuming that the practice complaints procedure is to be used, the complainant needs to be assured that the practice will:

• Deal with matters promptly – the aim being to complete enquiries within 14 days, with a maximum of four weeks.
• Undertake a detailed investigation
• Offer a meeting to discuss the outcome of the investigation if appropriate
• Advise the complainant that they may bring a ‘friend’ to the meeting
• Inform the complainant if there appear to be any delays or problems

A Complaint – Informal Meeting/Written Explanation

If there is an informal meeting, the practice should reassure the complainant that:

• The matter has been taken seriously
• The complaint has been fully investigated
• They will receive a detailed explanation
• They will receive an appropriate apology if necessary, but will always receive a statement of regret that the incident has occurred

A Complaint – The Follow-up

The action taken is entered in our complaints log and a record of any relevant meeting/s and/or a copy of the letter sent is kept in the complaints file in case further action results.

Learning from Complaints and Patient Feedback

Complaints and patient feedback logs are regularly reviewed in the partners meetings and where appropriate in staff multidisciplinary meetings to:

• Determine whether any audits are required as a result
• Determine whether a process needs to be reviewed
• Determine how to measure the effectiveness of any changes already implemented

Sharing of learning and actions from complaints

The information from the annual complaints audit and the anonymised summary of learning and action points from complaints will be shared via the next practice training session and there will be a multi-disciplinary discussion.

If the complainant is not satisfied, they should be alerted to their right (under the practice complaints procedure) to contact the customer contact centre at

NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT

Email: England.contactus.@nhs.net

Telephone: 0300 311 22 33

Or to take the matter to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which is an independent body established to promote improvements in healthcare through the assessment of the performance of those who provide services.

You can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on 0345 015 4033 or write to them at:

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

Website: phso.enquires@ombudsman.org.uk

You can also approach the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).

Telephone: 08000 323235