Suggestions & Complaints

Talk to us

Every patient has the right to make a complaint about the treatment or care they have received at Stennack Surgery. We understand that we may not always get everything right and, by telling us about the problem you have encountered, we will be able to improve our services and patient experience.

Who to talk to

Most problems can be sorted out quickly and easily at a local level. Please speak to a member of staff if you have a concern and they will assist you where possible. 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 or email as soon as possible after the event and ideally within a few days, giving as much detail as you can, 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 becoming aware of the matter. A complaints form is available from reception to help you with making your complaint if required. If you are a registered patient, you can complain about your own care. You are not normally able to complain about someone else’s treatment without their written authority. We are able to provide you with a separate complaint 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.

Please send your written complaint to:

stennacksurgery@nhs.net, marked for the attention of Charlotte Stafford

or

Charlotte Stafford
Complaints Co-Ordinator and Operations Manager
The Stennack Surgery, The Old Stennack School,
The Stennack, St Ives, Cornwall
TR26 1RU

If for any reason you do not want to speak to a member of our staff, then you can request that the Integrated Care Board (ICB) investigates your complaint. They will contact us on your behalf:

NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly – 01726 627975 – ciosicb.complaints@nhs.net

NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, Part 2S, Chy Trevail, Beacon Technology Park, Dunmere Road, Bodmin, PL31 2FR

What We Do Next

We will aim to respond within three business days to acknowledge your complaint. We will aim to investigate and provide you with the findings as soon as we can and will provide regular updates regarding the investigation of your complaint. You will then receive a formal reply in writing, or you may be invited to meet with the person(s) concerned to attempt to resolve the issue. If the matter is likely to take longer than expected we will let you know, and keep you informed as the investigation progresses.

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 wish to do so. When the investigations are complete, a final written 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.

Final response

The final response letter will include details of the result of your complaint and your right to refer 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. In the event the patient is deceased, then we may agree to respond to a family member or anyone acting on their behalf or who has had an interest in the welfare of the patient.

Please ask at reception for the Third Party Complaints Form, which contains a suitable authority for the patient to sign to enable the complaint to proceed. Alternatively, we will send one to you to return to us when we receive your initial written complaint.

Where the patient is incapable of providing consent due to illness, accident or mental capacity, it may still be possible to deal with the complaint. Please provide the precise details of the circumstances that prevent this in your covering letter.

Please note that we are unable to discuss any issue relating to someone else without their express permission, which must be in writing, unless the circumstances above apply.  You may also find that if you are complaining on behalf of a child who is capable of making their own complaint, we will expect that child to contact us themselves to lodge their complaint. We may still need to correspond directly with the patient or may be able to deal directly with the third party. This depends on the wording of the authority provided.

You have the right to approach the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman.

Their contact details are:

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

Tel:    0345 0154033

Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk

http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/make-a-complaint

You may also approach PALS, Healthwatch or the Independent Health Complaints Advocacy for help or advice.

The local Healthwatch can be found at:

http://www.healthwatch.co.uk/

The IHCA can be contacted at: http://www.seap.org.uk/services/nhs-complaints-advocacy/