Most issues can be resolved quickly and easily, often at the time they happen and with the person involved.
If you cannot resolve the issue in this way, you can make a formal complaint.
Who can make a complaint?
If you are a registered patient with our practice you can make a complaint about your own care.
You can complain on behalf of someone else if you have their written consent. Please see below what you will need to do.
Making a complaint on behalf of someone else.
To make a complaint for someone else, you will need their written consent. They will need to confirm that they are unhappy with their treatment and that they allow the practice to deal with someone else about the issue.
We cannot discuss anything with you until the patient has given us their consent in writing.
We may still need to speak to the patient directly.
This process is in place because we stick to strict rules of medical and personal confidentiality.
When to make a complaint.
It’s best to make formal complaint within a few days of the incident. This will make it easier to confirm what happened.
If this is not possible, you should make the complaint within 12 month of the incident, or of you discovering the problem.
How to make a complaint.
To make a formal complaint, please email the practice on [email protected]
If you prefer, you can put your complaint in a letter and either drop this off to the reception desk or send in the post to the address below.
St Cuthbert’s Church
Hayling Avenue
Portsmouth
PO3 6BH
When writing your complaint please include your full name, date of birth, address, and the details of the incident, including dates, time and names of people involved, if you know them.
What happens next?
We will send a letter in the post to acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 3 working days.
We will then investigate what has happened and why and what we can improve on.
We will then either reply to you either by phone or in writing.
We will ask for a minimum of 2 weeks to investigate the points you have raised in your complaint and we will respond within 4 weeks. We will update you if it is likely to take longer than the 4 weeks.
Outcome
We will either call or write to tell you the outcome of your complaint.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you can ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to review the case. The following hyperlink will help you get started:
https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/making-complaint/complain-us-getting-started or to obtain a PHSO complaints form:
https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/making-complaint/complain-us-getting-started/complaint-forms