Complaints & Comments

Occasionally things do not go as well as expected.  If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working at the practice, please let us know.

Under new guidelines from the Care Quality Commission, this practice must appoint a responsible person to ensure compliance with the National Complaints Procedure and to monitor complaints.  This person is Dr Rhoades however, all complaints will be handled in the first instance by the Complaints Manager who is also the Practice Manager. Therefore, please address all written complaints to the Practice Manager.

How to Complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out quickly and easily at the time they arise and with the person concerned.  However, if this is not possible and you wish to make a complaint, please contact our Practice Manager as soon as possible after the event.

If this is not possible, then please ensure we have the details within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem.

If you wish to discuss your problem in person, please make an appointment with the Practice Manager who will ensure that your concerns are dealt with promptly.

What we will do

On receipt of a written complaint we will contact you within 3-5 working days to acknowledge the complaint.  We aim to reply to your complaint and provide an explanation within 30 days.

If there is a delay beyond this time, perhaps due to the person involved being on holiday, we will let you know the reason for the delay.

When we look into your complaints we aim to:

• Investigate the complaint thoroughly
• Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned
• Make sure you receive an apology, where appropriate
• Identify what we can do to avoid a similar problem in the future

Complaining on behalf of another person

Please note that we keep strictly to the laws on patient confidentiality.  If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we must have a signed letter of consent from the person concerned, unless they are incapable of providing this.

Our aim is to provide you with the best possible service and to constantly monitor and improve our performance.

If you feel you cannot speak to us directly or are dissatisfied with the results of our investigation, there are other services that patients can access to help with a complaint or query they may have with their GP service.

You may contact the Lincolnshire Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on 0300 123 9553 or email at www.pals.nhs.uk

Other organisations that can help are:

POhWER who provide a free, independent and confidential advocacy service.  Website www.pohwer.net/lincolnshire or telephone on 0300 20 0084

and

NHS England Complaints Team
P.O. Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT