Comments & Complaints

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Practice Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint to make, or a concern to express, about the service you have received from the Doctors or any of the Staff working within the Practice, then please let us know.

We operate a Practice Complaints Procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints.

How To Complain

We know from experience that most problems can be sorted out quickly and easily, often at the time the problem has arisen and with the person concerned.

If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way, and you wish to make a formal complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible - ideally, within days of the problem arising.  This will enable us to more easily establish the facts relating to the situation under investigation. 

If it is not possible to submit your complaint quite so quickly, please provide us with specific details of your complaint:

• within 12 months of the incident that created the problem

OR

• within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem

All formal complaints should at first be referred directly to the Practice Manager.

Make a complaint using our online form

We shall be happy to supply the complainant with a standardised Complaint Form if required which can be collected from the Reception Desk.

What Action Shall We Take

The Practice Manager will promptly follow up any written complaint with a letter of acknowledgement which will give you a timeline for a full response.

We shall aim to acknowledge your complaint within two working days and aim to have completed the investigation into your complaint within 35 working days from the date the complaint was received.

When we investigate a complaint we shall aim to:

• Find out what happened and what went wrong.
• Make it possible for you to discuss the problem that has arisen directly with the person   concerned - if you would like this to be arranged.
• Provide you with a written response where this is appropriate.
• Try to ensure that the problem does not reoccur

Complaining on Behalf of Someone Else

Please note that we must observe the rules of medical confidentiality. This means that we can only accept a complaint on behalf of someone else if we have written authority of the person concerned, that is, unless the person is incapable, through illness, of providing this. This power of authorisation can be recorded on the back of our standardised Patient Complaint Form which is available at Reception.

Alternative Routes For Complaints

We hope that, if you have a problem, 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 provide us with an opportunity to review our own performance.

If you feel that you cannot raise your complaint with us, you can contact:

Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire ICB
Customer Services Freephone: 0800 0730907
Email: bnssg.customerservices@nhs.net
Post:NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB 
Floor 2, North Wing, 100 Temple Street, Bristol, BS1 6AG

If you remain unhappy after local resolution and independent review then you can complain to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman call: 0345 015 4033, email on: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk or for further information about the Ombudsman is available here.

You can write to the Ombudsman at:

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Citygate
Mosley Street
Manchester M2 3HQ