How to Raise Concerns Or Complaints About A GP Practice
How to raise concerns or complaints about a GP practice
If you are unhappy with the treatment or service you, a family member or someone you care for has received from a GP practice, you may want to make a complaint.
This is information on how to raise a concern, give feedback or make a complaint to a general practice.
This could get your problem sorted out by the end of the following day.
Before making a complaint, you could raise your concerns verbally with either the GP or practice manager.
1. If the concern you raised cannot be sorted out by the end of the following day, then you can make a formal complaint to the practice.
2. Call 0345 015 4033 or visit www.ombudsman.org.uk for more information. If you have had a final response from either the practice or NHS England, and you feel like your issue still hasn’t been resolved, you can ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to look into your complaint.
3. OR if you don’t want to complain to the practice, you can raise the issue with NHS England instead. For information on making a complaint to NHS England, visit: www.england.nhs.uk.
Top five tips for making a complaint to your GP practice
1. Make your complaint clear What happened? When did it happen? How has it affected you?
2. Decide what you would like to achieve How would you like things to be put right? Perhaps, you want an apology, a meeting to discuss the problem or for action to be taken to stop the same mistake from happening again.
3. Complain as soon as you can It’s best to complain as soon as possible while the events are still fresh in your mind.
4. Keep a note of anyone involved in your complaint Write down the names and positions of the people involved in, and dealing with your complaint. Make sure you keep copies of any emails or letters you get; you may need to refer to them in the future.
5. Ask for help If you need support on putting your complaint together, you can contact your local advocacy provider, visit www.local.gov.uk. Your local Healthwatch can provide support and information. To find your local Healthwatch visit www.healthwatch.co.uk