Compliments, Suggestions and Complaints

To share your compliments with us, you can do this via Healthwatch, Norfolk, a local independent and impartial, health and social care champion who actively supports the collection and sharing of feedback to improve standards of care.

We also kindly ask you to respond to our text messages which may be sent after an appointment with us at the practice requesting details of your experience.

If you would like to make a general suggestion to our team, you can email us at [email protected] (please do not use this address to contact us relating to any patient/medical queries, instead refer to our usual methods of contact).

Your feedback is extremely important to us as it helps us to see what we are doing well and areas for improvement.

Making a complaint

We do try our best to run the practice as smoothly and efficiently as possible. If you do have a problem, we will hope to sort it out quickly and easily for you with the person concerned or one of the management team.

Where you are not able to resolve your complaint in this way and wish to make a formal complaint you should do so, preferably in writing, as soon as possible after the event and ideally within a few days as this helps us to establish what happened more easily. In any event, this should be within 12 months of the date of the event that you are complaining about, or as soon as the matter first came to your attention.

State your case clearly, giving as much detail as you can. If you are a registered patient, you can complain about your own care. You have the right to complain about someone else’s treatment with their written authority, please obtain a complaint form from reception.

Send your written complaint to:

Wendy Dicks
Practice Manager
Reepham & Aylsham Medical Practice
The Surgery,
60 Hungate Street
Aylsham, Norfolk, NR11 6AA

What we do next

We look to settle complaints as soon as possible.

We will acknowledge receipt within three working days and aim to have looked into the matter within ten working days. You may then receive a formal reply in writing, or you may be invited to meet with the person(s) concerned to attempt to resolve the issue. If the matter is likely to take longer than this, we will let you know and keep you informed as the investigation progresses.

When looking into a complaint we will investigate the matter to see what happened and why, our aim is to see if there is something we can learn from this and make it possible for you to discuss the issue with those involved, if you would like to do so.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

We keep to the strict rules of medical and personal confidentiality. If you wish to make a complaint and are not the patient involved, we will require the written consent of the patient to confirm that they are unhappy with their treatment and that we can communicate with someone else about it on their behalf.

Where the patient is incapable of providing consent due to illness or accident, it may still be possible to deal with the complaint. Please provide the precise details of the circumstances which prevent this in your complaint.

Please note that we are unable to discuss any issue relating to someone else without their express permission, which must be in writing, unless the circumstances above apply.

We may still need to correspond directly with the patient or may be able to deal directly with the third party, this will depend on the wording of the authority provided.

When the investigations are complete your complaint will be determined and a final response sent to you.

Where your complaint involves more than one organisation (e.g. social services) we will liaise with them, so that you receive one coordinated reply. We may need your consent to do this. Where your complaint has been sent initially to an incorrect organisation, we may seek your consent to forward this to the correct person to deal with.

The final response letter will include details of the result of your complaint and also your right to escalate the matter further, if you remain dissatisfied with the response.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome and complaining to other authorities

The majority of complaints are resolved locally at practice level. However, if you remain dissatisfied with the outcome or you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us you may contact:

FAO Complaints Team
NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board
County Hall
Martineau Lane
Norwich
NR1 2DL
Email: [email protected]

The Health Service Ombudsman
Complaints helpline: 0345 015 4033 (open 08:30 – 17:30, Monday to Friday)

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome you may refer the matter to:

NHS England’s Customer Contact Centre
NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 2233
Email: [email protected]

If you remain dissatisfied after contacting NHS England you can address your concerns to:

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Tel: 0345 0154033

08:30-17:30 Monday to Friday

Email:[email protected] or you can contact them at www.ombudsman.org.uk

The Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) supports patients and those carers wishing to pursue a complaint about their NHS treatment or care. The contact number for ICAS in the East of England for, Cambridge, Norfolk and Suffolk is 0300 456 2370. The address should you wish to write to them is:

PoHWER
PO Box 140 43
Birmingham B6 9BL

You may also approach PALS for help or advice:

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) is based at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital trust. They provide confidential advice and support, helping you to sort out any concerns you may have about the care we provide, guiding you through the different services available from the NHS.

Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital
Colney Lane
Norwich
NR4 7UY

Tel: 01603 289035/36/45

Contacting the care quality commission (CQC)

If you have a genuine concern about a staff member or a regulated activity carried out by the practice, then you can contact the care quality commission on 03000 616161 or visit their website.