Complaints Policy

 

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Complaints procedure

We value all feedback positive and negative. You can rate our surgery and provide feedback on the NHS website, share your experience on the CQC website, complete Friends and Family Test or complete our secure online form.

Most issues that arise in the surgery can be resolved quickly and easily at the time they occur. Please let us know if you have a concern and we will do our best to investigate as necessary and explain it to you. If this is not possible and you do wish to make a complaint you can do so in the following ways:

 

You can raise a concern or complaint

  • In person: Please call at reception. One of our team will be able to help you and can give you a copy of our complaints form.
  • By phone: Dial 01733 240 478. Again, our reception team should help. 
  • Online: Our complaints form is here
  • In writing: Please write to Mrs Aija Selby Practice Manager, Lakeside Healthcare at Yaxley, Landsdowne Road, Yaxley, Peterborough PE7 3JL
 

How to complain

Hopefully, most issues can be resolved quickly and easily at the time they arise with the person concerned. If this is not possible and you wish to make a formal complaint, please let us know as soon as possible, in order that we can accurately establish what happened.

Should you wish to document your complaint, it should be addressed to our Practice Manager, Aija Selby to talk through your concerns. She will listen to your complaint, explain the procedure for dealing with it and ensure your complaint is dealt with promptly. Alternatively you can use our online form

Complaining on behalf of someone else

We keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so. A note of authorisation, signed by the person concerned, is required, unless they are incapable of providing this (because of illness or mental incapacity). In these circumstances we would require authority from the person holding the Power of Attorney.

 

What we will do

We will aim to acknowledge your complaint in writing within 3 working days and will usually provide a summary of your complaint in our acknowledgement letter to ensure we have understood your concerns. Our aim is to have fully investigated your complaint within 28 working days of the date when you brought it to our attention

However, if for any reason this is not possible, we will provide you with an update and confirm a new response date. All complaints that are investigated will be responded to in writing. On some occasions, we will propose a meeting with the people involved. When we look at your complaint we will:

  • find out what happened and what went wrong
  • make it possible for you to discuss the issues with those concerned, if you would like this
  • make sure you receive a proper apology - when appropriate
  • provide you with an explanation on any changes to policies or processes that have been made due to you raising your complaint
  • identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again

Complaining to NHS England

We hope that, if you have an issue, you will use our practice complaints procedure as we believe this will give us the best opportunity to put right whatever has gone wrong. However, there may be an occasion where you feel unable to communicate with us and you may prefer to approach NHS England, who is the commissioner of Primary Care Services. Their contact details can be found on their website

Health Service Ombudsman

If, at the end of the complaint process, you are not satisfied with the outcome, you have the option to contact the Health Service Ombudsman to request an independent review of your complaint.

Postal Address:
The Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman, Citygate, Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3HQ

Please note that if you approach the Ombudsman directly without using our practice complaints procedure first, they may refer you back to us so we have the chance to resolve your complaint locally.

NHS Complaints Advocacy Service

POhWER provide a free, independent and confidential advocacy service to support people with their NHS complaint.