Complaints Procedure 

If you have a complaint or concern about the service that you have received from the doctors or staff working for this practice we would like to know. We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of an NHS system for dealing with complaints. 

How Do I Make A Complaint?

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they occur 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 - ideally within a few days or at most a few weeks - as this will enable us to establish what happened more easily.  If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint:

• Within twelve months of the incident that caused the problem; or
• Within twelve months of becoming aware that you have something to complain about.
• A comment form is available for you to complete with details of your complaint. You do not have to use it if you prefer to set out your complaint in your own way. We can help you to write down your complaint if you feel you need help to do so.

Where possible you should make your complaint in writing to The Practice Management Team.  It would be helpful if you could provide specific details of what you feel went wrong and what outcome you would like.

Can I Complain On Behalf Of Someone Else?

Please note that the Practice must ensure strict adherence to the rules of confidentiality.  If you are complaining on behalf of someone else we have to know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be sufficient, unless they do not have the capacity to do this.

What We Will Do Next…

We think it is important to deal with complaints swiftly.  We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days and offer to discuss your concerns and agree the way forward with you.  We will investigate your complaint and aim to provide you with our findings within a time frame agreed with you.

When we look into your complaint we will aim to:

• Find out what happened and what went wrong;
• Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned if you would find this helpful;
• Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate;
• Identify what we can learn from your complaint and what we can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again in an effort to improve our services.

Submitting a complaint 

If you would like to submit a complaint to the surgery, please complete the online form available here.

Not Happy With Our Service?

We hope that you will use our Practice Complaints Procedure if you are unhappy. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve the services we provide. We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly when they arise. However, if you feel uncomfortable raising your concerns or complaint directly with us or if you believe this is not appropriate, you can raise your complaint with the ICB who commission and pay for the NHS services you use at:

Further Help and Advice

If you do remain dissatisfied you can approach the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) with your complaint. This should be done within 12 months of the final outcome of the practice complaints procedure. You can contact the PHSO at Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP or telephone 0345 015 4033.

You may also like to contact the local NHS Complaints Advocacy Service, Touchstone Advocacy Dewsbury Business Centre, 13 Wellington Road, East, Dewsbury WF13 1HF Tel 01924 460211 who can offer you free independent help and advice in making a complaint.