Complaints Procedure

We aim to offer our registered patient population a service they are satisfied with.  If however, you are dissatisfied with service you receive from any of the Doctors or other member of the practice team please let us know to enable us to resolve the matter. We operate a practice complaints procedure in line with NHS Guidance, the details of which are set out below.

How to Give Feedback/Raise Concerns

We hope that most problems/issues can be resolved quickly and easily with an informal  telephone conversation with our Patient Services Manager, Kirsty Knight.  If you do have a  concern you would like dealing with in this way please leave your telephone number with a member of our Reception Team and Kirsty will aim to call you back within 2 working days.  We welcome feedback from patients, positive or negative, so we are made aware and can take steps to address these concerns promptly and without prejudice.  We welcome feedback from patients, as it is always a valuable learning tool, especially when we are striving to provide a quality service to all of our patients.  Please call the practice reception team on 01832 273408.

How to Make a Formal Complaint

If you feel your problem cannot be resolved in this way and you wish to make a formal complaint, you can either complain direct to Lakeside Healthcare at Oundle or to NHS England, but you cannot do both.

If you complain to Lakeside Healthcare at Oundle, we would like you to let us know in writing as soon as possible - ideally within a matter of days or at most a few weeks - because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do this, please let us have details of your complaint:

• Within 12 months of the incident that is the cause of the problem; or
• Within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem

Complaints must be submitted to the practice in writing and addressed to:

Patient Services Manager, Lakeside Healthcare at Oundle, Glapthorn Road, Oundle, Peterborough PE8 4JA

Complaining To The NHS

We hope that, if you have an issue, you will use our practice complaints procedure as we believe this will give us the best opportunity to put it right whatever has gone wrong. However, there may be an occasion where you feel unable to communicate with us and you may prefer to approach the Integrated Care Board.

Their contact details are below:

• Telephone: 01604 476777  
• E-mail: northantsicb.patientexperience@nhs.net  
• Postal address:  Patient Experience Team, Francis Crick House, Summerhouse Road, Moulton Park, Northampton, NN3 6BF  

Complaining on Behalf of Someone Else

The practice adheres to the strict rules in place relating to patient confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to be assured that you have his or her permission to do so. A consent form signed by the patient concerned will be required by the practice, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this to enable the practice to carry out an investigation. Please see the Patient Consent form at the back of the Complaints information pack.

Our Commitment to You

Please be assured that we take any complaints received very seriously and aim to deal with them as quickly and thoroughly as possible to reach a satisfactory outcome.  The outcome of complaints are shared with the practice team and used as a learning tool, this helps us to improve the service we offer to our patients and avoid the same situation arising again.

We shall acknowledge your complaint within three working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within the time scale agreed with you.  The time taken to investigate your complaint will depend on its complexity and the number of people involved. We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting if that is more appropriate. When we look into your complaint, we aim to:

• Find out what happened and what should have happened.
• Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned if this is your wish
• Ensure the complaint is resolved to your satisfaction
• Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate
• Identify what needs to be done to ensure the problem does not arise again

Our Principles are

• To get it right
• To be patient focussed
• To be open and accountable
• To act fairly and proportionately
• To put things right
• To strive for continuous improvement

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure as above to ensure it is resolved to your satisfaction. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice.

If you do not feel your complaint has been satisfactorily dealt with either by the practice or NHS England it can be referred to The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. All records will have to be provided to the Ombudsman to assist with the resolution of your complaint. www.ombudsman.org.uk

In writing to - The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP.

Tel: 0345 015 4033      Fax: 0300 061 4000

E-mail: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk