We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice. However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible. If you have a complaint about any aspect of the practice, please write or speak in the first instance to:

Investigations will be made and, if you are not happy with the initial response from the surgery, your complaint will be taken through the appropriate stages which will be explained to you.

NHS Complaints Advocacy is free confidential and independent of the NHS.

They can:

• Support you to make a complaint about the service, care or treatment provided by the NHS, including complaints about your GP.
• Support you make an NHS complaint on someone else’s behalf, including if someone has died.
• Listen to your concerns.
• Signpost you to the right organisation if we think that someone else can be of more help than we can.
• Answer questions about the NHS complaints procedure and explain your options.
• Provide a step by step guide to making an NHS complaint and offer some tips.
• Provide you with a POhWER advocate, an experienced worker who can help you make your complaint and support you through the NHS complaints process.
• Support you to write a complaint letter, attend a complaint meeting, request access to medical records and refer to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) if the local service is unable to resolve your complaint.

To find out more about the role of the Ombudsman in investigating complaints, see the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s website.

Contact POhWER:

Telephone – 0300 456 2370 (charged at local rate)

Email – pohwer@pohwer.net

Post – PO Box 14043, Birmingham, B6 9BL

Website - http://www.pohwer.net/index.html