Complaints & Comments Leaflet
Let the Practice Know your views
Towcester Medical Centre 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.
HOW TO COMPLAIN
In the first instance please discuss your complaint with the staff member concerned or the reception supervisor if appropriate.
Where the issue cannot be resolved at this stage, please contact the Practice Manager who will try to resolve the issue and offer you further advice on the complaints 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 6 months of the incident that caused the problem
OR
- Within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months
The practice will acknowledge your complaint within three working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 28 days of the date you raised it with us. At this stage you should be offered an explanation or a meeting with the person(s) involved.
When the practice looks into 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
If you are unable to discuss your complaint directly with the Practice, or your complaint relates to another NHS provider, you can ask the Integrated Care Board to investigate your complaint. The contact details for the ICB are:
Telephone 01604 476777
Email northantsicb.patientexperience@nhs.net
In writing:
Patient Experience Team
Francis Crick House
Summerhouse Road
Moulton Park
Northampton
NN3 6BF
Independent Complaints Advocacy Service
| In Northamptonshire, you may contact VoiceAbility, a free service that supports people who want to make a complaint about their NHS Care or treatment. Contact Voice Ability on 0300 330 5499 , or go to http://www.voiceability.org |
As a last resort, 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 http://www.ombudsman.org.uk or Textphone (Minicom): 0300 061 4298.
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 the following website: http://www.cqc.org.uk