PRACTICE COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this practice please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of the NHS system of dealing with complaints.
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 as this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that please let us have the details of your complaint:
- within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem.
Complaints should be addressed to the Practice Manager (Mrs Heywood). Alternatively you may ask for an appointment with Mrs Heywood to discuss your concerns. She will explain the complaints procedure to you and will make sure your concerns are dealt with promptly. 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 and aim to have looked into your complaint within ten working days of the date when you raised it with us. Obviously, if your complaint is more complex or a serious complaint it will take longer and a timescale should be agreed with the person making the complaint. We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation or meeting with the people involved. 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 wish
- identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again
- make sure you receive an apology where this is appropriate
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 his or her 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 ONCE A PATIENT COMPLAINS?
The Practice Manager will ensure a complaint procedure is put in place and to ensure that action is taken if necessary in light of the investigations.
The Practice will aim to respond to complaints within 10 working days and within a maximum of 25 working days.
A complaint still ongoing after 6 months must be reviewed to ensure that all has been done that is possible to resolve the complaint.
If you wish to complain outside of the practice, you should contact Greater Manchester ICB.
Details of how to do this can be found at the following website, under the ‘Local area feedback and complaints’ section:
https://gmintegratedcare.org.uk/have-your-say/contact-us/
Note: changes on 1 July 2023
- From 1 July 2023 the way members of the public make a complaint about primary care services to the commissioner is changing. Rather than contacting NHS England, complaints will be made to directly to the local integrated care board (ICB).
- NHS England’s Customer Contact Centre will still deal with general enquiries from patients, such as ‘how do I get a GP or Dentist’. For such general enquiries, patients can still call 0300 311 22 33.
- Members of the public will still be able to make a complaint to the provider. This is NOT changing.
- Members of the public with ongoing complaints received on/after 1 July 2022 will receive a letter from NHS England informing them that the ICB is now handling their complaint with confirmation of their case handler.
- Members of the public with any ongoing complaints received before 1 July 2022 will receive a letter from NHS England informing them that their complaint is being retained by NHS England with confirmation of their case handler.
If you have any queries, please contact 0113 825 4781 until 30 June 2023, and 0161 357 1599 from 3 July 2023 onwards.
Find out more about how to feedback or make a complaint about an NHS service via the following link
https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-the-nhs/how-to-complain-to-the-nhs/