Complaints
We welcome all feedback, whether positive or negative, to help improve the service we provide. When we receive a complaint, we will:
- carry out an investigation and look at what happened
- make it clear what should have happened, versus what did happen along with any relevant guidance, procedures or policies used
- offer an apology or other statement of regret
- take steps to put matters right and detail any actions that have or will be taken
Our complaints procedure cannot look at disciplinary issues such as; whether a staff member should be sacked, 'strike off' a health professional or suspend their registration, or look at complaints about treatment provided privately unless it was paid for by the NHS.
Please be assured your complaint is not kept in your medical notes, so it will not affect your future care in any way.
We are committed to learning from all the complaints we receive. We may share your (anonymised) complaint with our Trust Board, ward teams, at safety meetings and on the Trust’s website to share our learning and improvements.
Please see our leaflet ‘Help us get better at what we do’ which explains the ways you can share your feedback.
Different ways to raise concerns and the steps in each process
Patient Advice and Liaison Service
(PALS)
- General Enquiries
- Advisory Service
- Signposting
- Health Library and Information
- Quick de-escalation
Quick resolution of cases within 48-72 hours
(Informal process)
Early Resolution Complaints
(ER)
- Non complex complaints
- Consists of one or two concerns
- Triaged by Care Group Complaint Handler and signposted to relevant colleague to communicate with complainant and resolve
- Written response approved by Care Group Director (CEO will sign off all MP complaints) and signpost to the Ombudsman
Complaint resolved within 14 working days
(Formal Process)
Closer Look Investigation
- Complaints that are complex, multi areas/agencies involved. It may relate to issues that are serious or high risk or high profile.
- An investigating officer will be assigned to the complaint.
- Investigation and cover letter require review by he central complaints team and coded accordingly.
- Final response approved by relevant Executive (CEO will sign off all MP complaints)
Complaints resolved within 50 working days (2.5 months) some complaints may take longer depending on complexity, if it is going to take longer than 6 months we will write to you and let you know
(Formal process)
How to make a complaint
If you, your family member, relative or friend is still an inpatient at the hospital, please talk to the Clinical Nurse Manager (CNM) in the first instance. They will be more than happy to listen to your concerns, explain the situation, agree what actions should be taken and update you on progress as required.
If you are not satisfied with the discussion and/or you would rather talk to someone from outside the ward/department you can contact the PALS team to discuss your concerns and next steps.
If you remain dissatisfied, you can make a complaint using the details provided under ‘The Complaints Process’.
Please note complaints should be made within 12 months of the issue, as this makes it easier to investigate the complaint and respond as quickly as possible. Any complaints over this time will be shared with the service to decide whether they feel they can still investigate the concerns.
Please give as much information as you can, including your name and address and hospital number. Where possible, please list questions or issues you would like addressed and any outcome you are seeking.
Anyone can make a complaint on someone else’s behalf; however, we will require written consent from the patient giving us permission to disclose personal information to the person raising the complaint. If the patient is a child, we will require consent from the parent(s).
We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days. We will advise if consent is required when we receive your complaint and explain what is needed.
We aim to respond to complaints within 50 working days. If we think it will take longer than this, we will contact you to let you know and provide an estimated timeframe.
We welcome meetings to discuss and resolve complaints with the relevant staff. You can request a meeting as part of your complaint or we may suggest a meeting if we feel this is appropriate. The relevant staff will attend and you are welcome to bring a relative or friend to this meeting for support.
What happens once I send a complaint?
We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days from receipt and, if necessary, request consent.
If we do not have the patient’s full details to enable us to identify the correct health records, we will contact you to ask for this information.
We will request consent to share if the complaint relates to any external organisations, to enable us to provide a single complaint response.
If we have a contact telephone number for you, we will attempt to contact you to discuss your concerns and explain the process and point of contact for your complaint.
How do you investigate my complaint?
Your complaint will be shared with the complaint coordinator for the service that the complaint is about. The complaint coordinator will discuss your concerns with the relevant staff, review your medical records and gather responses to the issues raised and carry out a thorough investigation.
The complaint coordinator may contact you to ask if you would be happy to discuss your concerns with a staff member. If so, it may be that the complaint can be resolved via telephone or a meeting. You will be asked during the call/meeting if you are happy the complaint is resolved and a letter summarising the discussion and any action taken will be sent to you and the complaint be closed.
If a full investigation is carried out, a response will be sent to you upon completion.
Complaint response
After we have completed our investigation we will provide you with a written response. This will detail:
- your complaint
- who was involved in the investigation
- what our investigation has found
- whether we are upholding, partly upholding or not upholding your complaint
- what happened/what should have happened, along with any guidelines, policies or procedures referred to
If we have found that something was not quite right or could have been better, we can offer an apology or some other statement of regret. We can also share actions that we have or will implement as learning from your complaint.
What if I have further questions or I am not happy with your response
If, after receiving our response, you feel the response is unclear or do not understand any points, please come back to us outlining these queries and we will do us best to explain and provide further clarification.
If you are unhappy with our response, have further questions, feel we have not answered one of your questions or are just not happy with the explanation we have provided, please contact the complaints team outlining the points you feel are not correct/have not been addressed or your concerns with the response. We will then review your concerns and our response and advise if we are able to reopen your complaint and provide a further response.
After receiving our response, you can request an independent review of your complaint through the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).
We provide signposting to the PHSO in all of our complaint responses.
Please note you must contact the PHSO within 12 months of when you became aware of the problem you complained about. The PHSO will not investigate your case before you have received our response. You can contact the PHSO through their website: https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/ and click the make a complaint tab.