General Provisions

The Practice will take reasonable steps to ensure that patients are aware of:

(a) the complaints procedure;

(b) the role of the local Primary Care Organisation (OCCG) and other bodies in relation to complaints about services under the contract; and

(c) their right to assistance with any complaint from independent advocacy services

The Practice will take reasonable steps to ensure that the complaints procedure is accessible to all patients.

Receiving Complaints

The Practice may receive a complaint made by, or (with his/her consent) on behalf of a patient, or former patient, who is receiving or has received treatment at the Practice, or:

(a) where the patient is a child:

• by either parent, or in the absence of both parents, the guardian or other adult who has care of the child,
• by a person duly authorised by a local authority to whose care the child has been committed under the provisions of the Children Act 1989; or
• by a person duly authorised by a voluntary organisation by which the child is being accommodated 

(b) where the patient is incapable of making a complaint, by a relative or other adult who has an interest in his/her welfare.

Period within which complaints can be made

The period for making a complaint is:

(a) six months from the date on which the matter which is the subject of the complaint occurred; or

(b) six months from the date on which the matter which is the subject of the complaint comes to the complainant's notice provided that the complaint is made no later than 12 months after the date on which the matter which is the subject of the complaint occurred.

Complaints handling

The practice will nominate:

(a) a person (the ‘Complaints Manager’) to be responsible for the operation of the complaints procedure and the investigation of complaints; and

(b) a Partner (responsible person), or other senior person associated with the practice, to be responsible for the effective management of the complaints procedure and for ensuring that action is taken in the light of the outcome of any investigation.

• The complaints manager is Dr Matthew Easdale 
• The partner is Dr Matthew Easdale

Action upon receipt of a complaint 

Complaints may be received either verbally or in writing and must be forwarded to the Complaints Manager (or his/her stand-in if the Complaints Manager is unavailable), who must:

• acknowledge in writing within the period of three working days beginning with the day on which the complaint was made or, where that is not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable
• ensure the complaint is properly investigated
• within the period of 10 working days beginning with the day on which the complaint was received by the Complaints Manager where that is not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable, the complainant must be given a written statement of the investigation and its conclusions

Confidentiality

All complaints must be treated in the strictest confidence

Where the investigation of the complaint requires consideration of the patient's medical records, the Complaints Manager must inform the patient or person acting on his/her behalf if the investigation will involve disclosure of information contained in those records to a person other than the Practice or an employee of the Practice

The practice must keep a record of all complaints and copies of all correspondence relating to complaints, but such records must be kept separate from patients' medical records.

Statistics and reporting

The Practice must submit to the local primary care organisation periodically/at agreed intervals details of the number of complaints received and actioned.

The Health Service Ombudsman

The Health Service Ombudsman has published a booklet that describes the ‘six principles for remedy’ in relation to complaints handling and involves:

If you remain unhappy after everything has been done to try to resolve your concern or complaint you have the right to approach the Ombudsman via their website