PATIENT FEEDBACK AND COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
The Practice welcomes any feedback and you can submit this by completing the Practice Patient Feedback and Complaints Form. These are available from Reception.
If you cannot complete this form, please contact the Practice on Tel. 01786 445888 and ask to speak to the Practice Manager or Deputy Practice Manager.
If you have a Complaint, this is dealt with as follows:
Stage 1
The Practice will respond to the complaint (whether by phone, in person, or in writing) within five working days.
Stage 2
If you remains dissatisfied, the complaint moves to ‘Stage 2’. You will receive an acknowledgement within three working days. A full response is sent within 20 working days, unless there is clearly a good reason for needing more time. This would be advised.
Please note that we can only investigate issues with the patient’s consent. If you are completing this form on behalf of someone else, we require their consent to proceed and to respond to you.
If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we will require the patient’s consent. This information is listed on the Patient Feedback and Complaints Form.
All complaints are thoroughly investigated.
Interpreting Service
We can arrange for a meeting with the Complaints Manager and an Interpreter for any patient whose first language is not English and needs help with their complaint.
In General
If you have a complaint to make, you can either contact the Practice Manager or ask the Receptionist for a copy of our Complaints Procedure. We will endeavour to:
- acknowledge any letter or Complaints Form within 3 working days of receiving it.
- deal with the matter as promptly as possible – usually within 20 working days – dependent on the nature of the complaint.
Who can complain
- Complainants may be current or former patients, or their nominated or elected representatives (who have been given consent to act on the patients behalf).
- Patients over the age of 16 whose mental capacity is unimpaired should normally complain themselves, or authorise someone to bring a complaint on their behalf.
- Children under the age of 16 may also make their own complaint, if they’re able to do so.
If a patient lacks capacity to make decisions, their representative must be able to demonstrate sufficient interest in the patient’s welfare and be an appropriate person to act on their behalf. This could be a partner, relative or someone appointed under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 with lasting power of attorney.
Appropriate person
In certain circumstances, we need to check that a representative is the appropriate person to make a complaint.
- For example, if the complaint involves a child, we must satisfy ourselves that there are reasonable grounds for the representative to complain, rather than the child concerned.
- If the patient is a child or a patient who lacks capacity, we must also be satisfied that the representative is acting in the patient’s best interests.
If we are not satisfied that the representative is an appropriate person we will not consider the complaint, and will give the representative the reasons for our decision in writing.
Time limits
A complaint must be made within 12 months, either from the date of the incident or from when the complainant first knew about it.
Regulations state that a responsible body should only consider a complaint after this time limit if:
- the complainant has good reason for doing so, and
- it’s still possible to investigate the complaint fairly and effectively, despite the delay.
Complaining on behalf of someone else
We keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are not the patient, but are complaining on their behalf, you must have their permission to do so. A Letter of Authority signed by the person concerned will be required, unless they are incapable (because of illness or infirmity) of providing this. A Third Party Consent Form must then be completed; this can be requested from Reception. Once this Form is completed we can then procced with the complaint.
Your Rights
If, after receiving our final decision, you remain dissatisfied you may contact the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO)and ask them to consider your case.
We will tell you how to do this when we send you our final decision.
Tel: 0800 377 7330
Tel: 0800 377 7331
E: [email protected]
W: www.spso.org.uk
Address for appointments or visting:
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
Bridgeside House
99 McDonald Road
Edinburgh EH7 4NS
If posting please write Freepost SPSO. This is all you need to write on the envelope, and you don’t need to use a stamp.
Confidentiality
All complaints will be treated in the strictest confidence.
Where the investigation of the complaint requires consideration of the patient’s medical records, we will 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.
We keep a record of all complaints and copies of all correspondence relating to complaints, but such records will 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.