Practice Complaints Procedure
If you have a complaint or concern about tine service you have received from the Doctors or Staff working in the Practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure (which meets National criteria) as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. How to Complain
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like to know as soon as possible - ideally, within a matter of days or at most a few weeks - as this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint; - within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem, or
- within 6 months of discovering mat you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months of
- the incident.
Complaints should be addressed in person, or in writing to the Practice Manager or her deputy or to a doctor. He/she will explain the complaints procedure to you and will make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible about the detail of your complaint. What we will do:
We shall acknowledge your complaint in writing within 2 working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 10 working days of the date you raised it with us. We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with the people involved. When we investigate your complaint, we aim to: - find out what happened and what went wrong
- enable you to discuss the problem with those concerned if you would like this
- make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate
- identify what we need to do to make sure the problem does not arise again.
Complaining on behalf of someone else
Please note: we keep strictly to the rules of confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know you have his/her agreement and/or permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this. Complaining to the Primary Care Trust
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 an opportunity to improve our practice. However, this does not affect your right to approach the Local PCT if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us, or are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation. You should contact Val Bell, Patient Advisory Liaison Service (PALS), Unit 1 & 2 Doolittle Mill, Froghall Road, Ampthill, Beds. MK45 2NX. Telephone: 01525 636882 You may also like to contact the independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS), who have satellite offices across the Eastern Region. They can be contacted initially by telephone on: 0845 456 1082 (low call rate). | 
