Complaints Policy

Our aim is to provide you with a high quality of general practice. If you have any comments about the practice please speak to our Senior Administrator in the first instance, or write to the Practice Manager.

If something has gone wrong and you wish to make a complaint, please follow our Complaints procedure as detailed below.

All information given to the Practice by its patients is protected by the Data Protection Act.

Prescott Surgery Complaints Procedure

At Prescott Surgery we offer a complaints procedure to deal with any problems or complaints you may have. Our aim is to resolve within the Practice any problems that may have arisen, to deal with them as quickly as possible, and to ensure that our service to you is of the highest standard. There are 2 complaint processes. The NHS Primary Care Complaints process dictates that you have to choose one process to follow.

EITHER

If you have a problem or a complaint, please speak to our Senior Administrator in the first instance, or write to our Practice Manager. Complaints must be made within 12 months of the event giving rise to the complaint, or within 12 months of becoming aware that there is a cause for complaint. We must respect patient confidentiality so if the complaint involves someone other than yourself; you must have the person’s permission. We have a consent form for this purpose.

We will acknowledge your complaint in writing or by telephone within 3 working days.
Your complaint will be thoroughly investigated by a senior member of staff who is not the subject of the complaint.
We will tell you who is dealing with the complaint when we acknowledge your complaint.
When he/she has gathered as much background information as possible, we shall let you know what we have found out.
If you are happy with our explanation we will not take it any further.
If you are not happy, however, or if there are more issues to be looked at, we may invite you to a meeting at which we can discuss your complaint. You are welcome to bring a friend or relative with you if you find it helpful. This will be an informal meeting which aims to explore the issues relevant to your complaint.
We aim to come to a mutual understanding of what has gone wrong and agree on any action needed to put things right.

We hope that any problems may be sorted out in an amicable way. If you would like independent advice or help on making a complaint, you can contact Healthwatch Shropshire on 01743 237884 or by sending an email to enquiries@healthwatchshropshire.co.uk.

You can write to NHS England at the following address, outlining your reason for the complaint.

NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT

You can email NHS England at england.contactus@nhs.net.

If you are not satisfied with the way that the complaint has been dealt with either by us or by NHS England you can contact the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman to request that your complaint is reviewed:

The Parliamentary & Health Services Ombudsman
Milbank Tower
Millbank, London
SW1P 4QP
T: 0345 015 4033
F: 0300 0641000

Email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk

We cannot deal with legal matters or with compensation claims.

We value your comments and we need to know when things are not running as smoothly as they should. By dealing with these problems we shall be able to offer you the best possible service, which is our aim.