Complaints, Comments & Suggestions

Suggestions

We are happy to accept and consider comments and suggestions from people.  Forms are available at reception for this purpose or you can use our contact page by clicking here.

Complaints

Leatside Health Centre welcomes comments, compliments, concerns and complaints.  We always aim to provide the best care we can.  However, we know that sometimes things can go wrong.  When this happens we believe that is it often most effective to sort problems out quickly and informally.  Please talk to any member of staff if you have a problem or concern.  If you need impartial help or advice in resolving a problem the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board can help you, details below.

The NHS Complaints Procedure is a more formal way of resolving a concern.  We want to assure people that they can make a complaint without fear of their care being affected.  We believe it is important to understand why things go wrong so that we can prevent such things happening again.

There are two stages to the Complaints Procedure.  The first stage is called ‘Local Resolution’.  This is where we work with you to resolve your complaint.  If after this, you feel your complaint to be still unresolved you can progress to the second stage by approaching the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman for an ‘Independent Review’.

If you want to make a formal complaint, please contact either of the Practice Managers, Caroline Pugh or Elaine White.  You can do this in writing, by phone or in person.  We usually prefer complaints are done in writing, as we are not always available to take a telephone call, if you would like to do this in person, one of our staff will complete a verbal complaint form for your signature and forward to us.  The Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) can help you make a complaint if you wish.

Please try to make your complaint as soon as possible. There are time limits; normally twelve months after the event you are complaining about (or became aware of the matter for complaint).  However, there are exceptions to this and we will always try to help as much as we can.

If you are making a complaint on behalf of another person, we may need to ask that person’s consent before investigating the complaint.

We will acknowledge your complaint and how we have agreed to resolve it within 7 working days.  We will keep you informed of progress; letting you know of any delays in resolving your complaint.  We will usually advise you of the outcome by letter or telephone, however we are also happy to meet with you.

The person who investigates your complaint may need to talk to other staff and look at your medical records.  They will be careful to ensure that any information about you is kept confidential. Your complaint will not be recorded in your medical notes.  We will let you know the outcome of the investigation and of action taken as a result.  If you are unhappy with any aspect of how we have handled your complaint, we would prefer you to tell us.  This means that we can discuss if there are any other ways of locally resolving your concerns.

If preferred, you may wish to copy your complaint to Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board, who will be happy to monitor how we handle your complaint.  You may also contact them direct and they will forward your complaint to us.

USEFUL CONTACTS

Practice Manager
Caroline Pugh

email: letters.leatside@nhs.net
Tel: 01209 313313

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board
Address: Part 2S, Chy Trevail, Beacon Technology Park, Dunmere Road, Bodmin, PL31 2FR
email: ciosicb.complaints@nhs.net
Tel: 01726 627975

Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS)
Address: PO Box 375, Hastings, TN34 9HU
email: info@advocacyincornwall.org.uk
Tel: 0300 1234131

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Address: Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP.
Tel: 0345 0154033