Practice complaints procedure

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

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 you to let us know as soon as possible - ideally, within a matter of days or at most a few weeks - because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have your complaint:

·    within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem; or

·    within 6 months of discovering you had a problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident.

Complaints should be addressed to Mr. D. G. Sykes, Practice Manager or any of the doctors. Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with Mr. Sykes in order to discuss your concerns.

He 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 your complaint.

What we shall do

We shall acknowledge your complaint within two working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within ten working days of the date when 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 look into your complaint, we shall aim to:

·    find out what happened and what went wrong;

·    make it possible for 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 can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

Please note that 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 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 this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. But this does not affect your right to approach the local Primary Care Trust, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation. You should approach Liz Johnson, Complaints Manager, at North Yorkshire & York PCT for further advice. She can be contacted at North Yorkshire & York Primary Care Trust, Sovereign House, Kettlestring Lane, Clifton Moor, York YO30 4GQ. Telephone (01904) 724102.

Other sources of assistance

If you feel you need help and support to make a complaint about any part of the NHS you can contact the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) who offer free, independent and confidential support. They can be contacted by telephoning 0845 120 3734 or through the Citizens Advice Bureau.

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) is a service for anyone who needs help or information on local NHS services. If you have any questions, problems or concerns about your care or the care of the person you are looking after, you can contact them for help and advice by telephoning  0800 5870856 or writing to North Yorkshire and York PCT, Patient Advice and Liaison Service, Freepost NEA 13107, York YO31 7ZX.