Complaints

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this GP surgery, please let us know. This includes Primary Care Network staff working as part of our GP surgery. We operate a complaints procedure as part of an NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

How to complain
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly when they arise and with the person concerned. For example, by requesting a face-to-face meeting to discuss your concerns.

If your problem cannot be sorted out this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible. By making your complaint quickly, it is easier for us to establish what happened. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint:

Within 12 months of the incident.

Complaints should be addressed to Sara Evans; Practice Manager (designated complaints manager); Telephone; 01202 670111,  Letters should be addressed to; Practice Manager, Poole Town Surgery, 36 Parkstone Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 2PG or email; reception.pooletown@nhs.net

What we will do
We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days. We will aim to have investigated your complaint within ten working days of the date you raised it with us. We will then offer you an explanation or a meeting with the people involved, if you would like this. When we investigate your complaint, we will aim to:

•  Find out what happened and what went wrong.
•  Make it possible for you to discuss what happened with those concerned, if you would like this.
• Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate.
• Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.

Complaining on behalf of someone else
We take medical confidentiality seriously. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we must know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.

NHS Complaints Procedure
We hope that you will use our Practice Complaints Procedure if you are unhappy. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our GP surgery.

If you do not wish to complain directly to the Practice you can address your complaint to NHS Dorset;

NHS Dorset Customer Complaints team
Vespasian House, Barrack Road, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 1TG

 Direct tel: 01305 368926

email: customer.careteam@nhsdorset.nhs.uk

Website: Feedback – NHS Dorset

Under the NHS Complaints Procedure, complaints are usually investigated only if they are made within 12 months of the event, or within 12 months of you realising that you have something to complain about.

However, this 12-month limit does not apply if there were good reasons for not making the complaint within the time limit, or despite the delay, it is still possible to investigate matters effectively and fairly.

There are two stages to the NHS Complaints Procedure;

• 1^st stage; local resolution, either by Poole Town Surgery, or NHS Dorset.
• 2^nd stage(if you are not satisfied with response from stage 1); Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP. Tel: 0345 015 4033
  Website: Making a complaint | Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)

Need help making a complaint?

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

• PALS; http://www.dchft.nhs.uk/patients/patient-experience
• Healthwatch;  Healthwatch Dorset
• The Advocacy People; https://www.theadvocacypeople.org.uk

Care Quality Commission

The CQC does not manage individual complaints about GP’s, however if can let them know about your experiences if you wish.

Phone: 03000 616161

email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk

Online form; Complain about a service or provider – Care Quality Commission (cqc.org.uk)

Our Promise to you

At Poole Town Surgery we try to ensure that all patients are pleased with their experience of our service and we take complaints very seriously.  If you need to complain, you will be dealt with courteously and promptly so that the matter is resolved as quickly as possible.

We learn from every mistake that we make, and we attempt to respond to patients’ concerns in a caring and sensitive way.