Suggestions and Complaints
We hope that we will be able to resolve any concerns you may have through our complaints procedure, however this does not affect your rights to approach NHS England or the Health Service Ombudsman if you remain dissatisfied.
Please write to:
NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 2233
Email: england.contactus@nhs.net
OR
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Tel: 0345 015 4033
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
If you feel you need support to make your complaint, free, independent and confidential support is available from POhWER – NHS Complaints Advocacy
Tel: 0300 456 2362
Email: pohwer@pohwer.net
Making a Complaint
Most problems can be sorted out quickly and easily, often at the time they arise with the person concerned and this may be the approach you try first.
Where you are not able to resolve your complaint in this way and wish to make a formal complaint you should do so, preferably in writing, as soon as possible after the event and ideally within a few days, as this helps us to establish what happened more easily. In any event, this should be within 12 months of the incident, or within 12 months of you discovering the incident which you wish to complain about. Please give as much detail as you can.
If you are a registered patient you can complain about your own care. You are unable to complain about someone else’s treatment without their written authority. See the separate section in this leaflet.
We are able to provide you with a separate complaints form to register your complaint and this includes a third-party authority form to enable a complaint to be made by someone else. Please ask at reception for this. You can provide this in your own format providing this covers all the necessary aspects.
Please send your written complaint to:
Dr Imran Ismail, Marston Forest Healthcare, 137 High Street, Cranfield, Bedford MK43 0HZ.
Feedback and Complaints section on our website.
Email us at data.cms@nhs.net.
What we do next
We endeavour to settle complaints as soon as possible.
We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and aim to have looked into your complaint and to have replied to you, with an explanation, within 40 working days of the date when you raised it with us. Our reply will include an offer of a meeting with the people involved, if you so choose.
When looking into a complaint we attempt to see what happened and why, to see if there is something we can learn from this, and make it possible for you to discuss the issue with those involved if you would like to do so.
When the investigations are complete a response will be sent to you.
Where your complaint involves more than one organisation (e.g. social services) we will liaise with that organisation so that you receive one coordinated reply. We may need your consent to do this. If your complaint needs to be forwarded to another organisation, we may seek your consent to pass this information on.
The final response letter will include details of the result of your complaint and also your right to escalate the matter further if you remain dissatisfied with the response.
Complaining on Behalf of Someone Else
We keep to the strict rules of medical and personal confidentiality. If you wish to make a complaint and are not the patient involved, we will require the written consent of the patient to confirm that they are unhappy with their treatment and that we can deal with someone else about it.
Please ask at reception for the Complaints Form which contains a suitable authorisation form for the patient to sign to enable the complaint to proceed.
Where the patient is incapable of providing consent due to illness or accident it may still be possible to deal with the complaint. Please provide the precise details of the circumstances which prevent this in your covering letter.
Please note that we are unable to discuss any issue relating to someone else without their permission, which must be in writing, unless the circumstances above apply.
We may still need to correspond directly with the patient, or may be able to deal directly with the third party, and this depends on the wording of the authority provided.