Complaints
PRACTICE COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
Your suggestions to improve the service we provide to you are always welcome and we are trained to receive and act upon these. If you have a concern or complaint 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 as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.
How to complain
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, 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. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have the details of your complaint:
- Within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem; or
- Within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem.
Complaints, written or verbally, should be addressed to Mrs Anita Mixides, Practice Manager, or any of the doctors, alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with your named GP or Mrs Anita Mixides to discuss your concerns. They will explain the complaints procedure to you and will make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible about your complaint.
Please contact us through any of the following:
Mrs Anita Mixides (or named GP)
Practice Manager
The Village Surgery
Amenbury Lane
Harpenden
Herts AL5 8BT
Send an admin online consultation via our website using this link https://florey.accurx.com/p/E82037
Telephone: 01582 712021
If you would prefer not to complain directly to the Practice, you can contact Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board via this link Telling us about your experience as a patient – Hertfordshire and West Essex NHS ICB
You can also contact their patient experience team by email at hweicbwe.patientfeedback@nhs.net or call the team on 01992 566122.
HELP WITH YOUR COMPLAINT
If you need support on putting your complaint together, you can contact POhWER, a local, independent advocacy provider on 0300 456 2370.
What we shall do
We aim to acknowledge your complaint within three working days. We will inform you of a realistic timescale for investigating the complaint and keep you updated if we need to revise this timetable. At the end of our investigation, we will offer you either an explanation in writing, telephone or a meeting with the people involved.
If you do not receive a response from us within 6 months of raising your concerns, you may refer your concerns to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Details are given below.
In considering your complaint, we will:
- Find out what happened and whether anything went wrong
- Make it possible for you to discuss the problems with those concerned, if you feel this would be beneficial.
- Make sure you receive an explanation and an apology, where this is appropriate
- Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again
This procedure is not intended to apportion blame, to consider the possibility of negligence or to provide compensation.
Your care and treatment will not be compromised due to the complaint, and you will be treated with respect and courtesy throughout the process. Letters, documents and other items used during our investigation of the complaint will be held separately from your medical records for the statutory length of time. Currently this is 10 years.
Complaining on behalf of someone else
Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, you must provide one of:
- Evidence of formal consent signed by the person concerned.
- A copy of a Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare
- A copy of a will showing your status as an executor.
- Evidence of parental responsibility or guardianship.
UNRESOLVED COMPLAINT
We hope that most issues can be resolved by discussions between ourselves. If you feel we have not dealt with your complaint satisfactorily after these discussions, you can then ask ‘the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to investigate your concerns.
- Via mail to Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP
- Online at http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/make-a-complaint (to complain online or download a paper form).
- By phone to the PHSO Customer Helpline on 0345 015 4033 from 8:30am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday
- By call back by sending a text to their 'call back' service: 07624 813 005
PLEASE ASK IF YOU WOULD LIKE THIS INFORMATION IN LARGE PRINT.