Listening – Responding - Improving
Horsmans Place Surgery constantly strives to give patients the best possible care and attention. We regularly review our service and have specific case discussions.
The Horsmans Place Surgery operates its own complaints procedure, in line with NHS requirements and guidance on dealing with problems. Our policy meets all national criteria.
You can contact the practice manager (Janet Riches) via janet.riches1@nhs.net
How To Complain
If you have any compliments, concerns or complaints about the services you have received from the practice, please let us know. We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, hopefully as they arise, and with the person or persons concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out this way, or you wish to see someone else about the issue, please contact us as soon as possible. Ideally, this should be within a matter of a few days from the incident, so that the issues are still fresh in the minds of all concerned.
If this is not possible, then NHS guidelines stipulate that we must receive details of any complaint within either:
- 12 months of the incident occurring, or
- within 12 months of you becoming aware of the problem
If you have a complaint, please write, in the first instance, to the Practice Manager. Alternatively, ask to make an appointment with Practice Manager to discuss your concerns. The complaints procedure will be explained to you, and we will make sure your concerns are dealt with promptly. Please be as specific as possible about your complaint.
What We Will Do
We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 3 working days, and aim to have looked into the areas of concern within 10 working days from the date we received the original notification of complaint from you. We will inform you if there are any circumstances, which may cause delay to this. When we look at the complaint we will try to:
- Find out what happened, and what may have gone wrong
- Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you wish to do so
- Make sure you receive an apology, if appropriate
- Identify any changes that can be made to prevent any similar problems in the future
If you complain on someone else's behalf - please note that we will adhere strictly to rules of patient confidentiality. You will need to have permission to raise any issues, and we will need written confirmation of that permission from the complainant, in order to be able to discuss anything with you.
If you remain un-satisfied after this process - We hope that most complaints can be sorted out by our Practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. However this does not affect your right to approach the NHS England Commissioning board if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the way we are dealing with your complaint.
Enquiries and complaints about primary care and specialist healthcare commissioned by NHS England should be directed to NHS England at nhscommissioningboard@hscic.gov.uk or by telephone on 03003 112233.
www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/complaint
Enquiries and complaints about primary care and specialist healthcare commissioned by DGS Clinical Commissioning Group should be directed to South East Commissioning Support Unit at complaints.kmcs@nhs.net or by telephone on 03000 424244.
If you are dissatisfied with this response, then you have the right to refer your complaint to the Health Service Ombudsman, by writing to Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP. They can also be contacted on helpline 0345 015 4033, www.ombudsman.org.uk or by email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk. They would require a clear statement of what issues remained outstanding.
However, before considering taking this step, we hope you would let us know what aspect of the complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily and provide an opportunity for us to consider whether there is anything further that could be done locally to resolve matters.
Help Us Get It Right
We constantly try to improve the service we offer.
Please let us know when you think we have done something well or if you have any suggestions as to how we can do something better.