Complaints, Concerns and Compliments

We very much welcome your feedback, either positive or negative, regarding the service you have received from our practice.

Occasionally we get it wrong and we 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)
• identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again

Practice Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure that meets the requirements of our mandatory PMS contract. Our procedure has also been influenced by the BMA document “The NHS complaints procedure: guidance for primary care” (published August 2015). Our latest complaints procedure document is accessible from, here.

How to complain

We hope that most issues 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 complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally, within a matter of days or at most a few weeks – because 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 in writing:

• within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem, or
• within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem

Beyond this timescale, it’s at the practice’s discretion to investigate the matter.

What we shall do

We shall acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 3 working days. We will share the outcome of the complaint investigation with you, usually within 4 weeks, and if there were any delays, you will be kept informed. We shall aim to make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate. We aim to identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.

Complaints should always be made by the patient concerned unless they are unable to complain or provide written consent for someone else to act on their behalf.

A separate file is kept for complaints records and these will never be filed in your medical records. Therefore your clinical care will not be affected by your complaint.

Still dissatisfied after receiving our response?

If you have a problem, we hope that you will 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 services.

However, this does not affect your right to approach NHS England if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us. NHS England can provide confidential advice and support, helping you to sort out any concerns you may have about the care we provide and guiding you through the different services available from the NHS.

Please note: Under the NHS and Social Care Complaints Regulations 2009 a patient is entitled to complain to either the service provider or the commissioner of the service (NHS England), but not both.

WY ICB Complaints Team
White Rose House
West Parade
Wakefield
WF1 1LT
Telephone: 01924 552150 (9am-5pm Mon-Fri excl.Bank Holidays)

Email: [email protected]