Patient Complaint Form

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the personnel working in this practice, please let us know.  We operate a practice complaint procedure as part of an NHS complaints system, which meets national criteria.

How to complain

We hope that we can sort most problems out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If you wish to make a formal complaint, please do so AS SOON AS POSSIBLE - ideally within a matter of a few days. This will enable us to establish what happened more easily.  If doing that is not possible your complaint should be submitted within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem; or within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem. You should address your complaint in writing to the Practice Manager (you can use the attached form).  He/she will make sure that we deal with your concerns promptly and in the correct way. You should be as specific and concise as possible.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

We keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality (a separate leaflet giving more detail on confidentiality is available on request).  If you are not the patient, but are complaining on their behalf, you must have their permission to do so.  An authority signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness or infirmity) of providing this. A Third Party Consent Form is provided below.

What we will do

We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days. 

We will then phone you to see how you wish your complaint to be managed. 

We will aim to have fully investigated within one month of the date it was received.  If we expect it to take longer we will explain the reason for the delay and tell you when we expect to finish.  When we look into your complaint, we will investigate the circumstances; make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned; make sure you receive an apology if this is appropriate, and take steps to make sure any problem does not arise again.

You will receive a final letter setting out the result of any practice investigations

Complaints advice

At any stage of this process you are entitled to contact the NHS Complaints Advocacy Service who can give advice on complaint handling.   

In Islington, this is via the organisation Pohwer 

Helpline: 0300 456 2370 

Taking it further

If you still have a comment or complaint about a GP you can contact NHS England using the details below:

NHS England
PO BOX 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT
Tel: 03003112233
Email: England.contactus@nhs.net

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

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

Tel 0345 0154033

www.ombudsman.org.uk 

If you are complaining on behalf of a patient or your complaint or enquiry involves the medical care of a patient then the consent of the patient will be required. Please obtain the patient's signed consent below.

I fully consent to my Doctor releasing information to, and discussing my care and medical records with the person named above in relation to this complaint, and I wish this person to complain on my behalf.

Please describe in as much details as possible the clear details of your complaint ie the main issue with the medical advice/treatment/service you have received and exact details what happened including any dates, times, who was involved:

Please advise us if you have any additional supporting documentation or evidence that you would like to provide that you think may be helpful with the investigation of your compliant.