Complaints in General Practice

STAGE 1: Local Resolution You can complain verbally or in writing. A large health centre will normally have a complaints manager. The manager should make a written record of your complaint. A smaller centre, or practice, may not have a complaints manager, but they will still have someone who is responsible for dealing with complaints.

Time Limit The time limit for a complaint is normally: 12 months from the date that the event happened, or 12 months from the date that you first became aware of it.

STAGE 2: Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman If your complaint is not resolved successfully after the above attempts, you can complain to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (P&HSO). The Ombudsman is independent of the NHS and government.

Your Rights You have the right to: have your complaint dealt with efficiently, and properly investigated know the outcome of any investigation into your complaint take your complaint to the independent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman if you're not satisfied with the way the NHS has dealt with your complaint make a claim for judicial review if you think you've been directly affected by an unlawful act or decision of an NHS body, and receive compensation if you've been harmed.

Top ten Common themes for complaints Clinical care and treatment, including delays in referral or diagnosis and GP attitude Removal of patients from GP lists Safety Care surrounding a death Nursing care / attitudes Unsafe discharge from hospital and service coordination Cleanliness and healthcare associated infection Record keeping- Out-of-hours GP services

To AVOID complaints one of the most important factors for a doctor is to LISTEN

Dealing with a complaint Review the nature of the complaint & the evidence (if prior prep possible) Listen to their story Apologise for their distress Explain what you will do to investigate/change matters Provide a Practice complaints leaflet Make appropriate changes