< Back to policies & procedures

Complaints and Feedback

 

Let the Practice Know Your Views

Comberton and Eversden Surgery 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.

Tell us about our service by completing a feedback form on our website or obtain one from reception

  • Could you easily get through on the telephone?
  • Did you get an appointment with the practitioner you wanted to see?
  • Were you seen within 30 minutes of your scheduled appointment time?
  • Were our staff helpful and courteous?
 

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.

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 and for this reason complaints are not held on patients' records.

 

How To Complain

Complaints can be made orally or in writing. If you make an oral complaint, we may request that you put your concerns in writing if there are a number of different issues or we feel we require it in writing in order to investigate thoroughly.

If you wish to make a written complaint, please address it to Michelle Myers at Comberton Surgery. You may use our online complaint form. We do not accept complaints in any other form to ensure we can answer in a timely manner.

 

What We Will Do

We will provide an acknowledgement to your complaint within 3 working days.

When we look into your complaint we aim to:

  • Find out what happened
  • Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with us
  • Make sure you receive an apology where it is appropriate
  • Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again

Our Practice Manager or a Partner will then be in a position to offer you an explanation and written response. This may include meeting with you to resolve the problem.

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.

Please also let us know when we have done something well. Positive feedback inspires us to work harder for our patients. Patient experience is important to us in order to acknowledge things going well and also identify areas of improvement. Positive feedback can be left on google, or NHS choices. We also have Friends and Family forms at reception.

 

Complaining On Behalf Of Someone Else

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

 

Complaining to Other Authorities

The 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 either of the following bodies:

HCAS – POhWER ICAS
Tel: 0845 456 1082

Or 

PALS Office at NHS England
Tel: 0300 311 22 33

 

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. Alternatively, you can visit the CQC website.

 

What To Do If You're Not Satisfied

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 are still unhappy with the final response to your complaint and would like to take the matter further, you have the right to contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to ask them to investigate. It is important that you make your complaint to the Ombudsman as soon as you receive the final NHS response as there are time limits for the Ombudsman to look into complaints.

You can contact the Ombudsman via their website, Telephone on 0345 015 4033 or by post at Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP. 

 

PALS, HACS and Ombudsman

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 PALS contact is NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT

Health Complaints and Advocacy Service (HACS)

If you need help with making your complaint the Health Complaints Advocacy Service (HCAS) can provide free, impartial, and independent information, advocacy and support to members of the public, wishing to make a formal complaint about the National Health Service. POhWER, PO Box 14043, Birmingham, B6 9BL

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.

The Ombudsman is completely independent of the NHS and Government. You can contact the ombudsman at: 11th Floor, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP