Comments, Concerns & Complaints
At Woodlands Family Practice, we are committed to providing a friendly and professional service to everyone who visits us. However, if our service does not meet your expectations for any reason, we take your concerns very seriously.
If you wish to make a complaint about the practice or any of the services we provide, please contact Jane Gearing, our Patient Liaison Officer, who will address your concerns promptly. All complaints will be treated as confidential. We always take these seriously and value them, as they help us improve our care.
Resolving Concerns
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 formal complaint, please let us know as soon as possible, ideally within a matter of days or at most a few weeks. This will enable us to establish what happened more easily whilst fresh in memory. If this is not possible, we will still investigate within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem or the discovery of the problem.
If the interval is longer than 12 months we may still, at our discretion, investigate the complaint but you must be aware that it might not be possible to give a detailed response.
Jane Gearing will explain the complaints procedure to you and make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. Our complaints procedure is designed to make sure that we resolve concerns or complaints effectively and as soon as possible under local resolution.
What You Can Expect
· We will:
· Acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days
· Give you a timescale of when you can expect a response to your complaint
· Usually respond within two weeks of the date when you raised it with us
· Offer you an explanation, or a meeting with the people involved
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 like this
· Make sure you receive an apology, where appropriate
· Identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn't happen again
· Discuss the investigation outcome in detail, either in writing or in person
Contact details for Jane Gearing - Patient Liaison Officer
Email: Janegearing@nhs.net
Phone: 01634 854431 (Extension 235)
In writing to:
Woodlands Family Practice
Woodlands Road
Gillingham
Kent
ME7 2BU
If you wish to speak with the Practice Manager – Jo Nightingale, you may still wish to do so.
Complaining on Behalf of Someone Else
Please note 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 their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable of providing this.
What You Can Do Next
We hope that if you have any concerns or problems you will let us know and if needed use our practice complaints procedure. We believe that this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and the opportunity to improve our practice to benefit all our patients.
Alternatively, you may choose to raise your complaint directly with NHS Kent and Medway, who commission our services. Their Patient Experience Team can be contacted as follows:
Please note that NHS Kent and Medway ICB are unable to investigate complaints that have already been raised directly with the service provider.
Email: kmicb.patientexperience@nhs.net
Phone: 01634 335095 (Option 7)
In writing to:
Patient Experience Team
2nd Floor, Gail House
Lower Stone Street
Maidstone
Kent
ME15 6NB
Independent Support
You can also access support and help via the NHS Complaints Independent Advocacy Service SEAP at:
SEAP
PO Box 375
Hastings TN34 9HU
Telephone Number: 0330 440 9000
Email: www.seap.org.uk
If You Remain Dissatisfied
If you remain dissatisfied with the responses to your complaint, you have the right to ask The Health Service Ombudsman to review your case. The Healthcare Commission is an independent body established to promote improvements in healthcare through the assessment of the performance of those who provide services.
Contact:
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower,
Millbank,
London
SW1P 4QP
Telephone Number: 0345 015 4033
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
Help Us Get it Right
We constantly try to improve the services we offer.
Please let us know when you think we have done something well, or if you have any suggestions on how we can improve.