Complaints Policy

How to complain

We hope that we can sort most problems out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If you wish to make a formal complaint, please do so as soon as possible - ideally within a matter of a few days. This will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If doing that is not possible your complaint should be submitted within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem; or within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem.

You should address your complaint in writing to the Practice Manager. He/she will make sure that we deal with your concerns promptly and in the correct way. You should be as specific and concise as possible.

Contact us to complain

Complaining on behalf of someone else

We keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality (a separate leaflet giving more detail on confidentiality is available on request). If you are not the patient, but are complaining on their behalf, you must have their permission to do so. An authority signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness or infirmity) of providing this. A Third Party Consent Form is provided below.

What we will do

We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and aim to have fully investigated within 10 working days of the date it was received. If we expect it to take longer we will explain the reason for the delay and tell you when we expect to finish. When we look into your complaint, we will investigate the circumstances; make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned; make sure you receive an apology if this is appropriate, and take steps to make sure any problem does not arise again.

You will receive a final letter setting out the result of any practice investigations.

Taking it further

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome there are organisations who can support you further.

• The Advocacy Project is the the Independent Health and Care Advocacy Services for Hackney
• Healthwatch Hackney is Hackney’s health and care watchdog. You can read Hackney’s Health and Social Care Complaints Charter

Further advice and support or if you are dissatisfied with our response

Complaints to NHS England

We hope we can resolve your complaint internally. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice complaints procedure and our practice. But this does not affect your right to approach the NHS commissioning board if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation.

If you feel your complaint cannot be resolved locally with the practice, you can contact the NHS Commissioning Board at:

Visit the NHS England website

If you have any comment or complaint about a hospital, mental health or community trust please contact them directly.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)

If you are not satisfied following all attempts to resolve your complaint locally, you have the right to ask for an independent review through the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). This must be done within 12 months of this response letter. Their contact details are:

Visit the Ombudsman website